Among the Living
by Crazedtroll
Summary: Meta-Tests final story in overall plot! After the attack at the stadium, can the team save Harrison and return to the friendship they once shared? Story is finished but I will post slowly as I edit. I recommend you read other Meta-Tests stories first. 1) Meta-Tests 2) To the Rescue 3) In the Lab at Night 4) In Grief 5) The Anniversary 6) Lost and Found 7) True Colours 8) Chameleon
1. Chapter 1

_**Greetings! Sorry for the long break between stories. This is the finale planned story in my Meta-Tests series. The overall plot line ends here, though I'm not promising I won't write in this 'verse any more. If you've not read any of the other Meta-Tests stories, I suggest you read some of those first. If you'e stuck with me for the entire series (8 or 9 stories I think) thank you so much. This one was hard to finish because of a number of things. Big thanks to ScoobyIce8 and** **zannabanana for encouraging me when I hit a block. I am working without beta, having killed three I've decided no more for now, so all mistakes are my own. Within the story italics denote a memory or dream and as this is the finale in the series, it is a bit tree-like, full of sap at times. I was unable to follow up on requests of PM notifications when I got the story posted due to lack of information included with the request. Sorry. Please read, enjoy, and let me know what you think! I don't own The Flash and I make no monies from this. -CT**_

 **Chapter 1: Show Your Cards**

Dr. Tina McGee glared at the image on the screen. She was watching security footage with Detective Joe West and CSI Barry Allen. Someone had broken into the lab and stolen the tachyonic prototype. The intruder had killed two security guards, shooting them down in cold blood. Now, seeing the image on the screen, Tina felt her anger boil up. "Harrison, I should have known," Tina seethed. Next to her, Joe and Barry exchanged looks. "I assume you will arrest him immediately." She turned on the detective and CSI next to her.

"Not that easy," Joe said, shaking his head. "I know for a fact Harrison has an alibi. He didn't do this." Tina's eyes widened. They weren't going to do anything.

"Detective, the proof is there for anyone to see," Tina exclaimed, motioning at the screen. "Plus, this is the third time he's been caught on video breaking the law! I read about the other two robberies in the paper!"

"I am telling you, there is no way that is Harrison Wells," Joe said calmly. Glaring at them, Tina decided she wasn't going to sit there and take it. She hadn't heard anything from Harrison in weeks. He had been checking in with her regularly until about a month and a half ago. Tina had cancelled their appointment and been too busy to reschedule. Now, this is what she got for saving and prolonging his life.

Getting up she stalked away from the two men and headed out the door. She went straight for the crowd of reporters. She waited a moment to make sure she had their attention before she started speaking. "Ladies and gentlemen, I just want to send a message to Harrison Wells. I want my prototype back. I don't care what you have on the police. I will get my work back from you and you will pay for killing my employees." She turned away as shouts erupted anew in the crowd.

Detective Joe West had followed her out, Barry going ahead of them. "Come with me," Joe said, catching Tina's arm as she tried to walk away. Looking around, Tina glanced once at the crowd before looking up into the man's face. He looked angry, determined.

"What's going on?" Tina demanded of him. He led her to a car, opening the door.

"You want proof it wasn't Harrison? Get in the car." The detective's tone was strong and firm, his eyes cold and serious. Returning his gaze, Tina did as she was told.

"Where are we going?" Tina asked again as she got into the car.

"To see Dr. Wells," Barry said. He was in the driver's seat, just getting off his phone. "Ready?" He looked to Joe who slid into the seat next to Tina, forcing her to scoot over. Joe nodded seriously and turned to stare out the window after buckling his seat belt. The car pulled out and headed into traffic. The two men were silent for the duration of the drive.

"So he's at S.T.A.R. labs," Tina mused as they arrived in the lab parking lot. The two men got out silently, looking back to make sure that Tina followed them. They remained silent as they entered the lab and took one of the elevators. When the elevator stopped Barry stepped out and led the way. He didn't take them to the cortex. They headed to a different room.

"You wanted to see Harrison so badly? Go say hello," Joe declared as they stopped at a door. He waved a hand, motioning for Tina to go inside. Frowning at him, Tina looked at the door, wondering what was on the other side. The two men seemed upset. When Tina didn't immediately open the door, Joe sighed in exasperation, yanked it open and entered. Barry went in and Tina followed him. "Hey Judy," Joe greeted the woman sitting in the chair. "Rupert! Big man!" Judy's son squealed upon seeing Joe. The mother and child were both meta's, the baby a product of the woman's power. Upon contact with Harrison months ago the baby had incorporated part of the scientist's DNA into his own making Rupert, effectively, Harrison's son.

"Hey Joe," Judy said. Standing behind Barry, Tina didn't see Harrison. He could have been next to Judy as Barry was blocking Tina's view. "No change today."

"Yeah?" Grabbing a chair, Joe pulled it over and sat next to Judy. Finally moving from Tina's view, Barry took the seat on the opposite side and Tina stopped in her tracks, staring.

"I don't understand," Tina finally said, her mind not really processing what she was seeing.

"What do you mean?" Barry frowned as he looked up.

"You wanted to know how we knew it wasn't Harrison. This is how." Joe motioned at the bed and Tina took a few steps forwards.

A hospital bed sat in the middle of the room. Joe, Judy, Rupert, and Barry had their seats arrayed around it so they could be seen by the occupant. In the hospital bed, Harrison Wells was hooked up to various monitors. Taking another step forwards, Tina looked at the readouts. There was almost no brain activity. "How long has he been like this?" Tina finally asked, breaking a hushed silence that had fallen after Joe had spoken.

"Six weeks, five days, three hours," a young man spoke up, moving from the shadow he'd been standing within. Jumping in surprise, Tina stared at him. "Apologies. I did not intend to startle you." He was young, tall, had sandy brown hair, and familiar piercing blue eyes. "Dr. Artemis Wells." The man offered his hand.

"Wells?" Tina didn't know what to think. The man had to be at least twenty but she'd known Harrison during the time period the young man would have been born. Harrison had never mentioned a child or nephew.

"Yes." Dropping his hand, Artemis turned from her, moving to check the body in the bed. "Joe, I think he's aware of your presence. His brain activity has increased."

"Sometimes it jumps when we read to him," Judy added. She watched Tina who was staring as Artemis pulled the bed sheet down and checked something on Harrison's chest.

"These wounds are still healing extremely slowly. The damage wrought to his system is likely the cause," Artemis noted.

"They're getting better," Dr. Caitlin Snow said coming into the room. "Artemis, I'm going to head home. Will you be alright for the night shift?"

"Of course Caitlin," Artemis said with an easy nod. "Get some rest. I, and hopefully Harrison, will be here in the morning."

"Thanks." Caitlin gave his arm a squeeze before leaving the room. The silence fell once more.

"Is he not stable?" Tina took another step closer. "How long has he been like this? Why is he like this? What the hell happened?" Looking around the group, Tina could tell that they had all been at it for a while. She could see weary looks on everybody's faces.

"He's been like this since Goldenboy attacked the stadium," Joe began. Standing, he pulled down the bed sheets, revealing bandages covering Harrison's chest. "He took four to the chest. Iris and I tried to stop the bleeding while we got him here." The detective spoke softly, almost reverently.

"It wasn't reported," Tina wondered.

"No. It wasn't," Joe agreed. He studied the woman, wondering what she would and wouldn't believe. "Harrison wasn't there as Harrison." The sentence earned him Tina's direct attention.

"What do you mean?"

"That's rather difficult to explain," Artemis spoke up. "If you need proof that Harrison has indeed been here for the full time, please feel free to explore his medical records. You'll find them on the computer over there. Hard copies of the cardio read-outs are in the folder along with notes on IVs, medications, and bandage changes." He motioned at a table and then went back to checking his patient.

Frowning, Tina remembered her anger, and stalked towards the computers and files. She spent several hours pouring over all of it. Harrison had done something to himself and it had backfired. It looked like he'd been trying to repair or bypass the damage to his spine. From the copious notes on the implant, some in Harrison's writing, Tina could tell that it wasn't that the implant didn't work. The problem was with pre-existing conditions in Harrison's body.

The group came and went while Tina examined the data. Joe was still there when she finally closed the folder and looked up. "Go ahead, ask em," Joe said around his finger. He had his chin resting in the palm of his hand and was watching Harrison's chest rise and fall.

"Has he shown any signs of brain activity?"

"We get the occasional spike. They happen more often when Rupert or Cisco are visiting with him," Joe answered honestly.

"I see. The wounds to his chest, they're healing very slowly. Do you know why? There's nothing in here about it."

"Artemis thinks it has to do with a medication Harrison was taking to make sure the implant worked."

"And he was at the game testing this implant?" Joe nodded, his eyes flitting between Tina and the body in the bed. "But he was shot causing the implant to malfunction and injure him further?"

"Basically," Joe agreed. He wasn't about to admit that part of the reason Harrison's health had been on the downwards slope was because he'd been using a special suit to act as the Chameleon. The police detective was still struggling to understand all of that himself.

"So, he's been here this whole time?" Another dull nod from Joe. "Why not let it be known?"

"Why make it public knowledge? Look, you know he was dying. Maybe he was a little bit suicidal. He was shot trying to protect me and my daughter. He didn't even hesitate." Sighing, Joe rubbed at his forehead.

"So, you've been taking turns sitting by his bedside for six, almost seven weeks now," Tina observed. It earned her another tired nod.

"You don't even know how intact his brain will be if he does wake up," she pointed out.

"Doesn't matter. He got hurt trying to save my life. He was testing that neural bypass thing on himself because he didn't want to risk injuring anyone else. He knew the scar tissue and damage his head had taken would cause problems with the implant. He still wouldn't use it on anyone else." Sighing, Joe stood, stretched, and started pacing at the foot of the bed.

An alarm sounded and the young man, Artemis, entered, quickly moving to the bed. Without looking he turned the alarm off as he checked his patient. Tina watched as the man calmly made some adjustments to the IV and then check the bandages. While the man worked the heartbeat, the cause for alarm, slowly returned to normal. Finished working, Artemis sighed.

"That's the third time today," Joe said softly. "He's getting worse, isn't he?" Artemis nodded.

"Joe, we might want to consider moving him to his house. I think he might be more comfortable. I know he would rather die there than here." Artemis spoke softly and seriously.

"Yeah. Carlton has been asking about him," Joe agreed.

"Carlton?" Tina spoke up. "Who is that?" She half expected it to be another son Harrison had kept secret.

"You know about meta-humans." Joe began bluntly. She knew about Judy so Joe figured she knew about the possibility of others. Tina nodded her head, wondering what that had to do with it. "Carlton is a meta-rosebush. He lives in Harrison's garden."

"I tend to him every day," Artemis said. "But he has complained that I throw the baseball too hard. I'm still learning." He smiled a bit sadly, and then vanished back into the shadows.

"I have to get home," Tina said, glancing at the clock. "I'll make a public apology to Harrison tomorrow. If you want, I won't mention his current condition."

"I'd appreciate that," Joe said, standing. "Need me to walk you out?"

"That would be fine, thank you." The two started back the way they had come. At the exit, Tina turned to face Joe. "Detective, I had been treating Harrison for a life threatening disease. How has that progressed?"

"Artemis was able to stop the degradation. If we can keep Harrison alive long enough for his body to recover from the injuries he sustained at the stadium, he should be okay, physically." Joe looked tired, worn out. Tina could only guess what the last month and a half had been like for him.

"May I stop by and visit him?" Tina asked this question quietly. She wasn't certain why she wanted to check back in, but she did. Something about seeing Harrison in that bed brought out old feelings for the man.

"Of course." They shared a silent look and Tina turned and headed out. There was a cab waiting for her. Perhaps Artemis had called for it. Climbing into the cab, Tina ordered it back to Mercury Labs, and sat back to think. She had a great deal to think about.


	2. Chapter 2: Dreaming Ghosts

_**Sorry there was confusion about the status of the story! I had issues getting it posted and accidentally marked it as complete, because my sleepy brain said "Yes, you've finished writing the story." It should now be corrected to "In Progress" and I will post more chapters as I have time to edit them. Thanks to**_ DarqueQueen7 _**for pointing out my mistake. Reminder, italics in the story indicate a memory or dream! Comments and reviews welcomed! - CT**_

 **Chapter 2 - Dreaming Ghosts**

It was early morning. Cisco entered the lab and went straight for the medical bay. It had become a routine. He'd get in early with donuts or other sugary treats and go check on Harrison. Artemis usually took the night shift and a good chunk of the morning shift. Since he was only partially human, he didn't need to rest as much as everyone else. From what Cisco could tell, the cyborg also cared deeply about Harrison and wanted to be there should the injured man wake. It had been days since Cisco had thought Harrison might be awake. Honestly, the young engineer was starting to give up. Not that he would ever say that out loud. Caitlin would kill him, bring him back to life, and then let Barry kill him if he did.

"Morning Harrison," Cisco said cheerfully as he entered the room. The machines beeped an answer. "So, today I picked up your favourite donuts." No matter what sugary treat Cisco tried to bribe the comatose man with, it never worked.

"Good morning Cisco," Artemis greeted the engineer. The young cyborg had only spent a limited time around humans and Cisco had decided it was his job to make sure Artemis fit in with society. It was a work in progress. "I'm saddened to report that Harrison coded two more times in the night. I believe his body is starting to give out. It doesn't seem able to heal itself." Patting Cisco gently on the shoulder, Artemis vanished into one of the other rooms. Cisco knew the cyborg was probably working on something to save Harrison, despite what he had just told Cisco.

"So, Harrison, man we have to talk," Cisco said, grabbing a donut and coming over to sit by the bed. "See, we need to heal you, but we don't know how. Any suggestions?" Studying the brain waves intently, Cisco's eyebrow arched up as he spotted a small blip. Anything was better than nothing. "Well, at least you can help me practice with my power."

Scooting the chair a bit closer, Cisco took a deep breath and reached out to carefully take Harrison's hand in his own. The hand was limp and cold. Closing his eyes, Cisco focused on the vibration of the machines, the beating of his heart and Harrison's. He'd been doing this off and on since Harrison had ended up in the coma. It was getting easier each time.

 _Harrison stared across the room at Tina McGee. They were both working late at the lab on a mind reading project for their boss. While Tina was very excited by it, Harrison was only mildly interested in it, but was willing to play guinea pig for his best friend._

" _What exactly are you hoping to achieve here?" Harrison demanded as Tina affixed yet another sensor to his head. A swimming cap covered most of his hair, and most of the sensors were hooked up to the cap. There were a few stray sensors directly on his skin. Overall he looked like he was wired into the machine Tina had already wired herself into._

" _I'm going to try to read your mind," Tina declared._

" _Ha, I can't keep up with it myself sometimes," Harrison chuckled as he watched her. Rolling her eyes at him, Tina shook her head and started looking over the equipment. She made a few adjustments and then closed her eyes, focusing on clearing her own thoughts from her mind._

" _Oh, buzzy," Harrison mused._

" _Hush," Tina ordered._

" _Bossy pants," Harrison grumbled. Snapping her eyes open, Tina glowered at the man, who smiled childishly with pleasure. "Sorry." He fell silent, fiddling with a pen with one hand. Harrison just couldn't hold still. Satisfied that he was going to behave, Tina went silent again, closing her eyes and focusing._

 _They sat quietly in the room for several long minutes until there was a soft thud, and the lights went out. "Is that supposed to happen?" Harrison asked. Tina didn't get a chance to answer him. The power suddenly cut back on causing an overload which in turn triggered an explosion. Crying out, Tina lost consciousness as she was thrown into a wall, Harrison's own scream ringing briefly in her ears._

"What?" Gasping, Cisco let go of Harrison's hand and stared into the face of Tina McGee. "What did you say?"

"What were you doing?" Tina asked.

"Huh?" Blinking back the glimpse into Harrison's life, Cisco took another deep breath. That was the problems with the visions he could share with the older man. For whatever reason, Cisco felt whatever Harrison felt, which included pain and terror.

"What were you doing? This is the most active I've seen his brain in weeks," Tina repeated. She stared hard at Cisco Ramon. "Are you a meta?"

How the hell had she jumped to that conclusion? Cisco blinked in horror, wondering what she would do to him. "Uhm," he managed to say.

"You were sharing what, a dream with him? Something that ended with screaming." Tina watched the young man. It had been brief, but she'd gotten a flash of what felt almost like a memory.

"How did you know that?" Cisco was too confused and amazed to try to deny his meta abilities.

"I saw it," Tina declared. "What was it?"

"One of Harrison's memories," Cisco answered. "Sometimes, if I talk to him, when I touch him I can join him in a dream of his past." He shrugged. "Doesn't seem to do much really."

"Not do much?" Tina arched an eyebrow and pointed at the brainwave recordings. "You get his brain more active. Can you talk to him?"

"No. I'm stuck just watching and feeling whatever he felt," Cisco answered. "I might be able to if he dreamed about me, but most of his dreams don't include me."

"Could you take me in with you?"

"Uhm, not sure. I've never really tried it. I don't know why Harrison can join me in them." There was a look on Tina McGee's face that had Cisco wondering what he was missing.

"What if we went into memories I could control? I could interact with him, maybe try to prod his mind in the right direction." There was excitement painting Tina's face.

"Okay, but none of that will help if we can't heal his body," Cisco supplied.

"Harrison, Tess, and I studied healing factors when we were younger," Tina mused.

"Is that before or after you tried to read his mind?" Cisco asked without thinking.

"What?" Tina frowned and looked up from her thoughts.

"The memory I was in with Dr. Wells. You two were hooked up to some sort of mind reading machine," Cisco began.

"There was a power surge and an explosion?" Tina's eyes were dancing with excitement as she asked the question. Cisco nodded, a little surprised that she knew what he was talking about. "We started our work on healing right after that. I wonder if the Flash has increased healing capabilities to go with his faster speed."

"Uhm, he might," Cisco said, glancing at Artemis.

"And you would know that how?" Tina arched an eyebrow, looking up.

"We might have helped him from time to time," Cisco said, trying to look innocent.

"Really? Would you have a sample of his blood?" Tina's gaze was bright, capturing Cisco.

"Maybe," Cisco admitted.

"Good. I'll need everything you have on Harrison's condition and I'd like to study a small sample of the Flash's blood," Tina ordered. Cisco nodded and looked over to Artemis who quickly went to get the sample.

"Kind of weird that Harrison was dreaming about something the two of you did right before you started studying healing," Cisco mused as he watched Tina take the bag Artemis had prepared for her.

"Oh?" Tina arched an eyebrow. "It is a bit, I suppose. What were you talking to him about before you entered the dream?"

"Nothing in particular. I was just telling him we needed help getting him to heal," Cisco said with a shrug.

"So he dreamed about Dr. McGee and himself at a turning point in their lives," Artemis pointed out.

"How did you know that explosion was a turning point?" Tina demanded.

"Harrison told me about it. He said that his own injuries caused by the explosion healed faster than usual, triggering your interest in healing factors," Artemis explained.

"Yes. They did." Tina frowned, thinking over everything. "So, you asked him for help, and he pointed us in what might be the right direction." A smile started to tug at Tina's lips and with a grin, she turned and headed out.

"Okay, so what just happened?" Cisco asked, turning to the cyborg in confusion.

"Chrissy was given an idea on how to bring Harrison out of the coma and possibly heal his injuries," Artemis replied.

"You know she hates being called that," Cisco said, a grin tugging at the edges of his lips.

"Indeed." Turning, Artemis headed out of the room. "We have work to do." Shaking his head, Cisco followed after, wondering if it was possible for cyborgs to be snarky intentionally.


	3. Chapter 3: Truths

**Chapter 3: Truths**

Joe took several deep breaths as he stood out on the patio. At the suggestions of Artemis and Tina McGee, they had transferred Harrison home. While Tina was hopeful with the progress she was making with the Flash's blood, she thought Harrison would be more comfortable in his house. Unfortunately, Tina's secretary had leaked the news that something was going on at the Wells household and news crews had been present for the transfer. The world now knew that Harrison was in a coma and couldn't be responsible for the robberies he was accused of committing. Shaking his head, Joe turned his thoughts to his last conversation with Harrison here. The scientist had been convinced that the world would have been better without him. Having come from a world where the man had been murdered and buried on the side of the road, Joe knew it wasn't true. As the Chameleon, Harrison had saved Joe, Iris, Barry, and so many more. The world needed Harrison, or at least, the team did. Somebody came to stand next to him and Joe glanced over at Caitlin.

"He's not stabilizing," Caitlin said softly. "Artemis is sitting with him, tracking everything."

"Benefits of being a cyborg," Joe mused. "No rest for the weary." They were both silent, watching the sun rise. "I'm guessing it won't be long now."

"Probably not. He's been going downhill since before Dr. McGee found out," Caitlin agreed. "I guess I was just lying to myself thinking he was getting better." Joe nodded his understanding. The door sounded and Cisco called out.

"Hey, Dr. McGee wants to try something but Artemis says he needs your help Caitlin," Cisco said softly. Nodding, Caitlin turned and headed back inside. "Joe you want to come?"

"What are you doing?" Joe didn't turn to look at the young man. He knew Cisco was having a hard time. Since they'd found out that Harrison had been using the Chameleon suit as an act of penance, the young man had been oddly reserved.

"Dr. McGee is going to try to talk to him and then wants me to see if I can take her into a vision." Cisco had explained to the group how he had shared a vision with Harrison early on in their relationship. The two men had experienced each other's feelings and Cisco had been using the same ability to try to communicate with the comatose man.

"Yeah, okay," Joe said with a shrug. It was just one more thing that wasn't going to work. Together, they entered the house, silently closing the patio door and heading to the master bedroom.

Tina stood by the bed, trying to ignore the readouts. "Harrison," she began, slowly sitting on the edge of the bed. "I'm certain you can hear me. Do you recognize my voice? It's Tina, rather Chrissy as you were always so happy to call me."Joe watched her swallow a ball of emotion. "You even have your damn son calling me Chrissy." She paused again, licking her lips and looking down at her hands. "Artemis is a wonderful young man and someday, you will tell me why you kept him a secret from me. Right now, though, I need you to focus on my voice. On me. We need to talk face-to-face. Please."

"Ready?" Cisco asked, stepping forwards. Nodding, Tina took Harrison's hand, while Cisco took her's, and then reached out and took Harrison's other hand.

" _You're doing it wrong," a voice teased. Rolling her eyes in exasperation, Tina McGee looked up from the physics problem she was working and at the grubby man standing by her table. He looked for all the world like a beach bum, though his bright blue eyes sparkled in the library light. Dressed in cut off shorts, a loud Hawaiian shirt, and a baseball cap worn backwards, he looked like he belonged anywhere else, not in University library. She even thought there might be sand on his face, though it was hard to tell with the stubble covering his chin._

" _I'm sorry?" Tina couldn't believe she was even speaking to the nut._

" _That problem. You're doing it wrong. You need to use a different constant in the formula." Grabbing the chair across from her, he spun it and then sat, draping his tan arms across the back of it._

" _Oh, yes?" Tina arched an angry eyebrow at him. She had been working on the formulation for days and finally felt like she was on the right track._

" _Yeah. Want some help?" His blue eyes seemed to twinkle with mischief and amusement._

" _Not from you," Tina informed the bum. Really, it was sad that University would let anyone through the library doors. She continued working the problem, aware that the man was still watching her, a goofy grin on his face as he rested his chin on his hand._

" _Did you need something else?" Tina asked, looking up. Arching an eyebrow at her, he shook his head._

" _Nope. But you're not gonna get the right answer." He said it sing-song, scratching at a his chin with a grin._

" _Please go away," Tina snarled. Shrugging, he stood and strolled off, drumming on a bookshelf with his hand as he passed it._

Blinking, Tina stared around the bedroom. Next to her, Cisco was also blinking. "Woah. That beach bum with the long hair was Dr. Wells?" Cisco declared, shock and amusement filling his voice.

"Did it work?" Joe asked.

"I couldn't change what was said," Tina replied. "And yes, that was Harrison. That was the first time we met, twenty-three years ago."

"You may not have been able to speak with him directly," Caitlin began, "but his brain responded." She motioned at the readout. It was true, Harrison's brainwaves were the most active Tina had seen since he'd been comatose.

"Okay, what does that mean?" Joe asked, hoping it was good news.

"That for our first try, it was shockingly successful," Tina answered. "We just need to get his body to heal; keep him fighting."

"His vitals are stabilizing," Artemis reported. He'd been standing by, monitoring everything. "For the moment, he appears to be improving."

"Indeed," Tina agreed. "Mr. Ramon, would you be willing to try again after lunch?"

"Oh, uhm, I promised I'd put a pot in front of the window for Carlton," Cisco stated. He was glad they had already explained about the meta-rosebush. "He has one on the patio I said I would bring inside."

"The plant wants to visit Harrison?" Tina's disbelief dripped from her voice.

"Harrison and Carlton have developed a mutual care and respect," Artemis declared. "I can easily move the pot now, provided Dr. Snow is comfortable with me being absent for a few minutes."

"Go ahead," Caitlin agreed. Responding with a single nod of his head, Artemis turned and left the room.

"Have you noticed that Artemis has mastered Harrison's eyebrow arch?" Joe asked suddenly.

"Yeah, and his sigh of disapproval," Cisco agreed.

"Harrison never told me he had a son," Tina stated, wondering if they had answers. There was something about the young man that was off. His speech patterns were so formal.

"Come along Carlton," Artemis's voice entered the room a step before him. In his arms he was carrying a massive planter. At his feet, a rosebush scampered along on its roots. "Where do you want this?" Artemis looked to the plant, standing almost casually with the pot in his arms. The planter was easily half as tall as Tina and looked like it was ceramic, yet the cyborg didn't seem phased by its weight.

Carlton darted forwards, stretching branches this way and that as if he was testing the sunlight. The humans watched as the plant seemed to consider first one spot and then another. Finally, Carlton circled a spot in the middle of the picture window, and shook his branches. Artemis seemed to easily understand the plant.

"It understands you," Tina mused, watching the way the young man and plant interacted. "And you understand it?"

"I speak fluent Carlton," Artemis declared. "As does my father."

"I see. Artemis, I'd like to try going into another vision. However, I'd like to inject this into Harrison's IV first." Going to her briefcase, Tina opened it and pulled out a small vial with a fluid inside of it. "I isolated some blood platelets from the sample you gave me from the Flash. I'm hoping that by injecting them into Harrison, it will help trigger clotting in Harrison's blood and promote healing."

"Intriguing. I had considering doing that myself," Artemis began.

"But I'd imagine between caring for Harrison and yourself, you really didn't have time to make it happen," Tina declared. "I took a few days off from work and barely slept while I worked on this. It's part of the reason why I hadn't been over in four days."

"Thank you for your dedication," Artemis replied. Reaching out, he carefully took the vial and the group watched as he loaded a syringe with the contents which he then injected into the IV via one of the ports.

"Now we need to join him in a memory," Tina said, looking around at the group. "Let's focus on something relatively recent." Moving to the bed, she sat just on the edge, studying a star shaped scar on Harrison's abdomen. "What happened here?"

"That one is my fault," Caitlin declared. "My husband died several months ago. I blamed myself. In my grief, I jumped off a bridge." She bit her lip, staring at the scar. Coming forwards, she brushed a hand over the skin, covering it with her palm. "Harrison jumped too, caught me, and used a jetpack prototype to slow our fall. We hit the ground pretty hard. He managed to roll us so he took the brunt of the impact."

"I'm sorry about your husband." Tina locked eyes with Caitlin and the younger woman realized that Tina did indeed feel for her. "So, hitting the ground caused this scar?" Tina motioned at the star again.

"Kind of," Joe said, stepping forwards. "He landed on a tree branch. It impaled him."

"Yeah, that was really gross," Cisco added. His eyes narrowed and he stepped forwards, taking Joe by the hand before taking Harrison's hand.

 _Caitlin snored in the most adorable way. It made Harrison smile as he watched her sleep. The medical bed was just big enough for them both if they snuggled together. As Harrison watched the way Caitlin's nose twitched when her hair fell across her face, he felt a huge sense of relief. The horror that had torn through him when she fell, and reading her suicide note still lingered. Taking a deep breath, he let the pain in his side pull him from his thoughts._

 _Snorting, Caitlin opened her eyes, pushing her hair from her face. As she ran a hand across her lips she realized she'd been drooling. Frowning, she looked around the room until her gaze fell on Harrison's smiling face. "Good morning," he greeted her softly. Her eyes widened as she remembered everything that had happened and practically leaped from the bed._

" _Dr. Wells, I am so sorry," Caitlin began. With a sad smile, he shook his head._

" _Harrison, Caitlin. My name is Harrison and you have nothing to apologize about." Grabbing the railing on the bed, he pulled himself up into a sitting position. "Nothing from last night, aside from you trying to kill yourself, upset me. I came after you on my own. It was my decision to jump. When you asked to join me in bed, I said yes because we both needed the comfort. Don't apologize and don't tell me to forget any of it."_

" _But your side," Caitlin began._

" _Is healing. All I want from you is a promise that the next time you want to kill yourself you will come talk to me first. If only to warn me so I can make sure Cisco gets the prototype finished." As he spoke, he started moving himself into position to transfer back into his chair._

" _Now," he looked around the room. "Where is my chair?"_

" _Cisco left it in the lab van," Caitlin answered. "I will ask him to bring it down later. You don't need it today. You need to rest for at least 24 hours."_

" _Oh? So you're holding my wheelchair hostage?" He arched his eyebrow as he questioned her, a smile tugging at his lips._

" _I will if that is the only way to get you to rest." A sad smile filled his face._

" _No. I will follow my doctor's orders. Any chance I can get some coffee?"_

" _I'll go get some brewing." Nodding, he watched her leave the room._

As one the group took in a collective breath as the vision ended. Shock and surprise filled their faces, having never experienced Cisco's visions before. "He blamed himself," Caitlin said, sadness cracking her voice. "How could he blame himself?"

"Caitlin," Cisco softly whispered, pulling her back from the bed. "Come on." Glancing at Joe, Cisco guided Caitlin from the room.

"That was rather intense," Tina said, glancing over at Joe and Artemis. The younger Wells was studying the read out.

"Indeed, however it is the highest brain activity we have recorded so far." Frowning, Artemis shifted, looking oddly uncomfortable.

"Easy there," Joe said, putting a hand on Artemis's shoulder. "When was the last time you took a break?"

"I do not require a break," Artemis countered. Frowning, Tina studied him, glancing once at Joe. Realization dawned on her and Tina stepped forwards.

"Artemis, would you care to join me in a coffee run?" Tina suggested, catching Joe's eye and seeing him nod in encouragement.

"I am capable of preparing coffee for everyone in the kitchen here," Artemis countered.

"Son, you have been watching over Harrison non-stop. Take a break, go out with Dr. McGee. I'll stay here with Harrison. If anything changes, I'll get Caitlin," Joe said, grasping Artemis by each bicep. "Go." After a moment of studying Joe's eyes, Artemis sighed and nodded.

"Come on then," Tina said, taking the young man by the elbow as she led him out of the room, glancing back at Joe who was mouthing a thank you. "Let's go get something to drink." Artemis didn't reply as they left the room.


	4. Chapter 4: Outing

**Chapter 4: Outing**

Tina watched Artemis as his gaze took in their surroundings. He'd remained silent on the drive to Jitters. When she watched him, she noticed several little mannerisms that reminded her of Harrison. There were other things though, which reminded her of someone else. Perhaps she'd known the young man's mother. "So," she began as they waited in line. "What would you like to have? My treat."

"I do not require a beverage at this time," Artemis declared. He let his gaze rest on Chrissy and knew he had said something wrong. Cisco had been working with him on his interactions with humans, but Artemis was a slow learner when it came to some human behaviour. "I said something wrong," he observed.

"Not completely, no," Tina assured him. "But I would like it if you would let me get you something. I am dying for a good latte and a chocolate chip scone. Eating and drinking with you watching will make me feel rude." She watched him consider her statement. He looked confused, like he wasn't completely at home with his emotions.

"So my having a beverage would alleviate your discomfort?" He was studying the female intently now.

"Well, yes, I suppose it would," Tina agreed.

"Then I will have a hot chocolate," Artemis decided.

"A wise decision." Smiling at him, Tina stepped forwards and put in their order. The barista handed her a plate of 3 scones and told them their drinks would be brought to them. After paying, Tina turned and walked right into the next customer. The scones went flying as Tina started to tumble to the floor. A strong hand caught her arm at the same time another hand darted out to catch the plate and the scones on it.

"Are you all right, Chrissy?" At that moment, Artemis sounded just like Tina's Harrison of 20 years ago. He held her gently but firmly while he balanced the plate in his other hand.

"Nice catch," the customer who had bumped into Tina declared.

"Thank you. Dr. McGee, are you injured?" Artemis couldn't understand why she was staring at him the way she was.

"No, I'm fine," Tina finally managed. Getting her balance back, she nodded towards two comfortable looking chairs in a quiet corner. "Let's go sit, shall we?" Artemis inclined his head in a half nod and guided her to the spot she had indicated. Putting the plate down on the table, he made sure Chrissy was settled when he took a seat.

Harrison used to stretch out when he and Tina had been friends. Tina expected Artemis to do something similar, but instead he seemed to compact himself, folding into the chair with his long legs tucked into his body. It was something Tess had always done. As Tina watched the brown haired young man, she realized that his non-Harrison mannerisms were Tess-like mannerisms. Once he was settled, Artemis locked eyes with Chrissy. Seeing her intense gaze, he inclined his head.

"Have I done something wrong?" His eyes were so like Harrison's, but there was something about the way he tilted his head as he watched her.

"I was just wondering why Harrison never told me about you," Tina admitted. There was a moment of silence as Artemis blinked and then looked away.

"He did. We have even spoken via computer before." His words sounded sad, but when he looked back, there wasn't much emotion in his eyes. At least, very little that Tina could read. "You just don't remember the same timeline as Harrison and I. Most of the people we care about don't remember us."

"What do you mean?" Tina leaned forwards. There was something in his eyes, like he was debating about telling her.

"We believe that anyone exposed to Eobard Thawne for a prolonged period of time retained memories of that timeline." The server arrived, setting their drinks down. Frowning in confusion, Tina took hers and watched him as she took a sip. "Whatever you remember, I assure you, this is not our first conversation."

"What do you mean different timelines? This time, start at the beginning." She watched him stare at her, his blue eyes not really seeing anything. When he finally blinked, his eyes locked on her.

"We are currently living in 2 timelines which merged. One timeline is the one you remember. In that timeline, Harrison Wells and Tess Morgan were murdered by a man named Eobard Thawne. He was a traveller from the future but became stuck in the past. In order to return home sooner, he murdered Harrison and Tess as they returned home from the beach. After stealing Harrison's DNA he buried the body and assumed Harrison's identity. That is the timeline you remember."

"Are you telling me that Harrison died the same night as Tess?" Artemis nodded. "So the wanker he became after the accident, that wasn't because of grief?"

"Indeed. It was because it wasn't Harrison. In my timeline, however, Harrison and Tess both survived the accident. She and their foster son died in a car accident seven years ago. The two timelines were merged when Thawne's ancestor shot and killed himself, preventing the birth of Eobard Thawne and creating a paradox and the singularity. When the Flash closed the singularity, most people had memories of my timeline."

"But not me because I spent time with this Eobard?" She wouldn't have believed it if she hadn't noticed the differences.

"Correct."

"And you? How do you figure into it? Who are you? Did I know your mother?"

"I would rather not discuss myself," came his cryptic answer. "I would like to thank you for helping Harrison."

"You're welcome, though, I don't know that I've done much." Sighing, Tina took a scone. "You should try a scone," she suggested. There was a long pause as he regarded the food, looking uncertain. "Go ahead, they have chocolate. Harrison was a chocolate junky when we were friends."

"He still is, especially for chocolate with sea salt and caramel," Artemis agreed with a grin. Before Tina could reply, the smile was replaced with a look of sadness. "I tried to protect him, Chrissy." His words were soft so that Tina had to lean in to hear him. "He thought he owed the city. Said he had failed it and needed to make up for it. A penance." Sighing, he looked away. It was the most emotional she had seen the young man.

"Harrison was always stubborn," Tina informed him. "If he decided to do something, he'd do it. You can't blame his current condition on yourself."

"Why not?" Artemis arched an eyebrow at her, looking more like Harrison. "I performed the surgery. I put the implant into his body." Sighing, he seemed to sink deeper into his chair. "If I hadn't helped make the damn thing and installed it in his body, he wouldn't be in a coma."

"Artemis." Tina felt the wave of sadness coming from the young man. Uncertain what to do for him, she reached out and took his hands in hers. "Harrison would be upset if he knew you were blaming yourself." Dipping her head, she tried to lock her eyes with his. He seemed confused as well as upset. "I may not know the man he is now, but I know my best friend 20 years ago would never want his son to feel like you do right now."

His eyes had locked on their clasped hands. It looked like he was lost in his own world. "I have observed that humans seem to benefit from physical contact," he said softly, rubbing a finger over hers. "Odd that comfort can be found through the small act of holding hands."

His behaviour confused her. It was almost like he was unfamiliar with emotions. Blinking, he reached up to wipe tears away, gazing at the moisture on his hands. Her heart hurt for him, so Tina tried to explain. "We find comfort in touch because it reminds us we are not alone." Blinking, he lifted his gaze to her face. Oddly, his eyes seemed bluer than usual. "You are not alone in your grief, in your fear, in your pain." It seemed he was about to speak when a frown crossed his face.

"Do you hear something?" Unfolding from the chair, he stood to his full height. "A high pitched buzz?" He looked around, his grief forgotten.

"No," Tina said, looking in the other direction. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. One of his hands drifted up to an ear. "Artemis?" Standing, Tina went to his side as he cradled his head in both his hands, pain painting his face.

"What is that?" Artemis cried out. He was nearly doubled over from the pain.

"I'm calling an ambulance," Tina declared, pulling out her phone.

"It's coming closer," Artemis gasped out.

"Yes, I'm at the CCJitters on Elmington," Tina began, glancing over at Artemis. "My friend is having sudden hearing issues and head pain," she explained. "Yes, can you send an ambulance please?"

"No," Artemis managed to beg. He dropped to his knees. "No ambulance."

"No, Artemis. I let your father play that card. I won't let you play it." Tina waved to get the attention of one of the servers. "My name is Tina McGee. My friend's name is Artemis Wells. Yes, very good. Thank you. Please hurry. He says the pain is getting worse." Clicking her phone off, Tina moved to help Artemis.

"What's wrong?" The server Tina had waved at approached them.

"I'm not sure. He says his head hurts." Tina watched in amazement as the server's eyes rolled up into her head and she fell to the floor. Glancing at Artemis, who waved her away, Tina checked the young woman. "She fell asleep. Or passed out from pain. " All around them, people started dropping. Tina had only a moment to consider how odd it was before she felt an overwhelming pain build in her head. Thankfully, she passed out before it made her scream.

Artemis opened his eyes against his own pain in time to see Tina drop. Lunging forwards, he managed to catch her and lower her to the floor. "Chrissy?" Cocking his head to one side he listened intently. Going to the doors, he carefully stepped over other unconscious customers. Out on the street, a car veered off the road and into a shop window. Running forwards, Artemis scooped up a child just in time as another car also went off the road. The block came to a standstill as everyone seemed to lose consciousness.

As Artemis gently lowered the child to the ground, he cringed as fresh pain lanced through his head. He'd tried running a system diagnostic, but whatever was causing the pain was also inhibiting some of his non-human functions. Looking around, his eyes narrowed as he saw a familiar figure coming down the street. "Hartley," Artemis breathed the name. As if he'd heard the cyborg, Hartley turned towards Artemis and let loose with his gloves. The blast knocked Artemis back and through the glass door of CCJitters. Artemis rolled across the floor and stopped when he hit the counter. In the street, Hartley continued on his way.


	5. Chapter 5 - Chaos

**Chapter 5: Chaos**

The sound of sirens were filling the air when Tina woke suddenly. Sitting up, she stared in confusion at the chaos before remembering everything that had happened. Artemis had come down ill. Around her, others were waking with the chaos growing as more awoke. The doors were broken as though something had barrelled through them. Somebody by the counter shouted. "Oh my god, somebody help, I don't think he's breathing!"

"I'm a doctor," Tina shouted, wondering where Artemis was. There was a still body on the floor in front of the counter. As she approached, people cleared a path. "Oh no, Artemis." Recognizing the body, Tina picked up her speed, dropping down next to the young man. "Artemis, can you hear me?" Leaning forwards, she checked his pulse at the same time she watched his chest and tried to feel his breathing on her cheek. "Call 911. Tell them you have a 20 year old male, unconscious with a pulse but not breathing. I'm going to start rescue breathing." Tina watched just long enough to make sure the person she'd spoken with pulled his phone out and started following her orders.

"Come on Artemis," Tina begged before she started breathing for the young man. She'd been relieved when she felt the pulse but that wouldn't mean anything if she couldn't get him breathing again.

"An ambulance is on the way," one of the onlookers said. Tina just nodded as she kept breathing for Artemis. EMS arrived and Tina moved back as one of the medics took over the breathing.

"I don't know what happened," Tina began, watching the men work. "He was complaining of a severe headache when I fell asleep. When I woke up he was here, not breathing."

"Pulse is weak and slow, keep bagging him," one medic declared. Pulling out shears the man cut up the middle of the unconscious man's shirt to bare Artemis's chest. There was silence as the two men worked. Tina watched as they started applying the leads and her eyes studied the heartbeat. It was much too slow. Something was seriously wrong.

"What the fu-" The medic using the bag-valve-mask on Artemis jumped as the patient sat up, pushing the mask away from his face.

"Chrissy? Are you injured?" Artemis didn't seem to notice, or care, that he was the centre of attention.

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm more concerned about you," Tina answered him honestly. His eyes seemed to narrow before flicking around the room.

"This is unnecessary," Artemis informed the medics as he started plucking the leads from his chest. "I am not seriously injured." Reaching out, Tina tried to stop him. Their gazes locked.

"Artemis, you weren't breathing and your heartbeat is slow. Please, let them treat you." Tina wasn't about to let Harrison's son endanger his life.

"I am fine. My breathing and heartbeat have returned to normal." Artemis pulled the last of the leads off and started to stand. "I would like to return home and check on Harrison."

"Look man, I can't force you to go to the hospital, but I need you to sign a refusal form and I have to at least get a set of vitals," one of the medics declared. Artemis ignored him, getting to his feet, and trying to pull his shirt closed.

"Artemis," Tina practically shouted his name. Blinking, he looked up, confusion painting his face. "Did you hear him?" She pointed at the medic. Following the direction she was pointing, Artemis didn't reply.

"You sure you're okay?" The medic watched Artemis carefully, the paperwork already out and on a clipboard.

"Yes. I will be fine. Thank you for your assistance." Smiling, Artemis reached out and took the clipboard from the medic. Without saying anything else he signed and returned the forms to the man. "I need to get home." Turning, Artemis started for the door.

The police were already there. People were milling around in confusion. "Sorry, but I can't let you leave until someone has taken your statement," a uniformed police officer at the door said, stopping them.

"I need to return home," Artemis replied.

"He was injured," Tina supplied. "I think he's being picky about who checks him out." She'd followed him, her worry growing as she saw blood staining the back of his shirt. "Artemis, please let the EMTs treat you." As she spoke she put her hand on his shoulder, startling him. Turning so that he was between her and the police officer, he frowned. There was confusion in his familiar blue eyes and Tina felt a little blossom of suspicion grow.

"Look, I understand that you want to get home, but I can't let anyone leave without speaking with someone first," the policeman replied.

"We understand. Come on Artemis, at least you could let me check your back," Tina requested. Slowly, the young man nodded and he turned to go back to their tables. "If you could please let someone know that we would like to leave as soon as possible, I'd appreciate it," Tina requested. The young cop nodded his head.

"I'll try to send someone over as soon as I can," he supplied. His eyes had gone wide when he'd seen Artemis's back. "Wasn't he the guy they were doing CPR on a minute ago?"

"Yes. Now you understand why I want to get him to his doctor. He's being stubborn." Tina smiled at the young officer and returned to her table. "Artemis, sit down and let me see that back of yours." She pulled a chair over to sit in front of one of the others and motioned for him to sit. Throwing a leg over, he sat facing the back of the chair.

"Of course Chrissy." Without saying anything else, he went motionless.

"I really don't know why you and Harrison insist on calling me that," Tina muttered. She watched the back of his head, waiting for a response. None came. Turning her attention back to his injuries, she frowned. He would need stitches. There were lots of little tears all over the back of his jacket, but at least one long jagged cut was visible as the blood slowly spread over the fabric. He'd landed on his back so there weren't any pieces of glass poking out, but Tina suspected there were at least a few pieces embedded in his skin. "Artemis, can you hear me?" She spoke loud enough that he should have heard her. There was no response, and she felt her suspicion confirmed. While she examined his injuries, she ran over their interactions in her mind, trying to decide if she was right.

"Excuse me," a man dressed in jeans and a polo shirt stopped before them. He slowly sat down next to Tina, glancing at Artemis. The new comer had silver hair and bright blue eyes which quickly seemed to take everything in as he flashed his badge at them. "I'm Detective Hallow. Officer Rollo over there said you two were anxious to leave."

"Dr. Tina McGee," Tina said. She didn't offer him a hand, instead she was carefully inspecting Artemis's back. "My friend, Dr. Artemis Wells."

"Nice to meet you both." The detective didn't write anything down. Instead he watched intently as Tina carefully probed one of the cuts.

"Chrissy, it would be easier if you simply let Dr. Snow tend to my wounds once we have returned home," Artemis declared.

"Dr. Wells, I'll be happy to let you both leave once I've gotten your statements. Of course, you'll need to leave me with contact information and be available should I need to follow up," Detective Hallow informed them. Artemis had fixed his gaze on the older man and nodded.

"Of course. Chrissy and I were each having a beverage when I heard a strange noise. It was a loud buzzing which caused severe pain in my head. She was tending to me when I believe everyone else passed out from pain. After confirming that Chrissy was uninjured but unconscious, I went out front to investigate." Artemis paused, his breath catching in his throat as Tina probed over his shoulder blade. "I believe, Dr. McGee, that area is heavily bruised."

"Why didn't you pass out?" Hallow glanced back at what Tina was doing. "And what happened to your back?"

"I believe I did not pass out because my auditory functions are not the same as the other individuals here," Artemis supplied.

"He's deaf," Tina declared, knowing that the young man couldn't see her mouth to read her lips. "I didn't realize it myself until a moment ago. He's an excellent lip reader."

"Did you say something Chrissy?" Artemis started to turn his head but paused, sucking in air as he apparently aggravated his injuries.

"Okay, so you didn't fall asleep because of your hearing. What did happen to you?" Hallow exchanged a look with Tina.

"I went out to the street. I believe everyone there was affected as well. A number of vehicles had run off the road. After I moved one individual in danger of being injured, I saw Hartley Rathaway walking down the street. Based on my observations, I have reached the conclusion that he was causing the sound which put everyone to sleep. When he saw me, he pointed his hands towards me. I believe they emitted some form of solid sound wave which knocked me back through the front doors. My head impacted with something which unfortunately, caused me to lose consciousness."

"You certain it was Hartley Rathaway?" Artemis hummed affirmatively. "So, you know Hartley Rathaway?"

"Indeed. He was once employed by my father."

"Who is that exactly?"

"Harrison Wells."

"You said he was employed by your father. Did he leave after the accelerator explosion?" Hallow didn't seem bothered by the fact that he was speaking with the son of the man who blew up the city.

"No. Approximately one year prior," Artemis answered.

"Mind if I ask why he left your father's employment?"

"Is that pertinent to this case?" Artemis asked the question politely, emotionless. Tina frowned. The blood was spreading. She was starting to worry.

"No. Thank you. Is there anything else you could add?" Still, Hallow hadn't written anything down, instead he was focused completely on the two people he was interviewing.

"No. I woke with the medics tending to me. May we go now?"

"I just need to get Dr. McGee's statement." Hallow smiled gently at the young man. "As well as your contact information. Do you have a license or other form of identification?"

"Of course." Artemis grunted as he reached into a jacket pocket and pulled out a thin black leather wallet. Tina watched him pull out his license and hand it over to the detective.

"You're only 20 years old? What kind of doctor are you?" Hallow couldn't hide his surprise as he studied the piece of plastic he held.

"I have my MD as well as several philosophical doctorates," Artemis answered. "I was ill as a child and spent most of my time studying."

"Alright. Thank you for the detailed account." Hallow handed the license back. "Dr. McGee?"

"Not much to tell. I fell asleep as Artemis described. When I woke up I heard sirens and somebody calling for help. I found Artemis unconscious on the floor at the front counter. Looked like he'd been thrown through the door. He wasn't breathing so I performed rescue breathing until help arrived." She shrugged. "Now, can I take him home where hopefully he will let his doctor tend to him?"

"Yes. Is there a direct line where I can reach you?" Hallow glanced briefly at Artemis, who had fallen silent.

"Here's my card." She handed him the card and he took it, studying it for a moment before slipping it into an inner pocket in his jacket.

"Excellent. I'll walk you both to your vehicle." He stood, offering a hand to Artemis.

"We can go then?" Artemis asked as he took the hand and allowed Hallow to pull him to his feet.

"Yes. I'm going to walk you to your car." Hallow flashed a small smile at the young man. "I will be following up with you later. I understand your doctor needs to tend to you. Please, have him or her take photographs to document your injuries."

"Of course. I can ask Mr. Allen to be present as well as Joe if you would like," Artemis supplied as they started walking towards the doors.

"Barry Allen and Detective Joe West?" Hallow looked surprised, his eyebrows going up at Artemis's nod. "That'd be perfect."

"I will contact Mr. Allen now." Artemis fell silent but didn't pull out a phone. They reached Chrissy's cars. "Thank you Detective Hallow," Artemis said.

"Thank you Dr. Wells. I will be in touch. At this particular moment, I'd rather you got checked out," Hallow ordered. Artemis nodded his thanks and climbed into the car. Leaning against the vehicle, Hallow made sure the young man couldn't see his face. "Dr. McGee, you sure he's deaf?" He half expected Artemis to answer.

"If he can't see your lips move, he doesn't seem to hear you," Tina supplied. She shrugged. "If his father wasn't in a coma, I'd ask Harrison."

"Well, I appreciate the help. Thanks again." Hallow nodded his head of silver hair and watched Tina get in her car and drive away. With a sigh, he turned and trudged back to Jitters to finish his interviews.


	6. Chapter 6 - Medical Attention

_**Hey folks. Sorry for the long delay. I've been multitasking and I have always had some trouble with the story from here on out. I'm doing my best, but always welcome reviews, comments, suggestions, and requests. Thanks! -CT**_

 **Chapter 6: Medical Attention**

The drive back to Harrison's house was silent. Artemis never spoke as he stared out the windows. Tina wondered if he knew she had figured out he was deaf. She wasn't sure why he hadn't told her. It would have made their conversations a little easier. Contemplating the strange man sitting next to her, Tina pulled the car up in front of the house and parked. "Here we are," she said after turning to face Artemis as she unbuckled her seatbelt.

"Thank you, Chrissy," Artemis said, already opening the car door. "I am sorry our outing had to be cut short. I enjoy your company." He flashed a very Harrison-esq smile and climbed out of the car. Shaking her head at the similarities between father and son, Tina got out and followed him inside.

Joe greeted them, looking tired and upset. "Hey, you okay?" Joe asked, intently studying the cyborg.

"Greetings, Joe. Where are Caitlin and Cisco? I require assistance," Artemis inquired.

"They're still back in Harrison's room, Barry is downstairs waiting for you. I'll need to get written statements from you both for Detective Hallow when you're all done," Joe said, waving towards the room. Nodding his thanks, Artemis went straight to the room. "What the hell happened?" Joe demanded as he frowned at Artemis's bloody back.

"Hartley Rathaway is apparently on a rampage," Tina said. "Because of his hearing loss, Artemis wasn't affected by Rathaway's device. To deal with him, Rathaway blasted Artemis through the doors of Jitters. He wasn't breathing when the rest of us regained consciousness. I tried to convince him to go to hospital, but he refused."

"Not a surprise," Joe mused. Together they moved to follow Artemis. "There hasn't been any change in Harrison since you two left."

"Well, it will take some time. We can re-evaluate him in 48 to 72 hours," Tina declared, trying to hide her worry. "I should be able to synthesize more of the serum so we can administer it every two days. Why doesn't Artemis tell people he's deaf?" Maybe a change in subject would help her take her mind off her old friend.

"There's a ton about Artemis I don't understand. He tried explaining how his auditory systems function. I got lost in all the techno-babble." Joe shook his head. "Honestly, the best way to understand why Artemis does anything is just to spend time with him."

"Well, I fully intend to get to know him," Tina declared. "Any idea where Dr. Snow would take him to be treated?" There was a long pause of silence before Joe finally sighed and nodded his head.

"The house lab," Joe supplied. "I'll take you." They had paused outside Harrison's bedroom, now Joe turned and led the way into the room. "I know this is weird, but the quickest way to get to the lab is through the closet," Joe provided. "Harrison and Tess had a hidden elevator installed as a joke when they bought the house." Artemis had revealed the lab and explained everything to the team after Harrison had been injured. The cyborg had seemed relieved to finally bring the team in on everything Harrison had been working on without them, as much as a cyborg could be relieved.

"A lab?" Tina couldn't help but be interested.

"Yeah. Apparently it's where he developed and had Artemis implant the neurological bridge," Joe replied. "Artemis would also monitor Harrison from there. Come on. No reason not to show you." He led the way into the closet, pausing at the back to glance at the woman. After a moment he pressed his hand to the wall and it opened. Stepping in, Joe waited until they were both inside the elevator before keying in the code. Artemis had input the biometrics for the entire team when they'd moved Harrison to the house.

"Good lord, this is amazing," Tina breathed as the elevator opened and they stepped out into the lab. Hearing them, Caitlin poked her head around the corner. Barry was coming out of the same area, a camera in hand.

"Joe, Dr. McGee, we'll be right with you. I'm just helping get Artemis cleaned up," Caitlin declared before vanishing back around the corner. Frowning, Tina strode forwards, rounding the corner and stopping in her tracks.

"Hello, Chrissy," Artemis greeted her brightly. He was seated on a medical bed, his back to Caitlin. His shirt and jacket had been removed and from what Tina could see, Caitlin was treating the wounds on his back.

Tina had been prepared to see him topless. His bare chest, while beautifully toned (dear lord she couldn't believe she'd just thought that about Harrison's son), was not why Tina had stopped suddenly. The wire trailing from a laptop and up to Artemis's chest where it seemed to enter just above his heart was the reason she stopped. Blinking, Tina was even more amazed to see another wire snaking up and behind his left ear. Clearly, there was much more for Tina to learn about the young man. "What are you doing?"

"Cisco is running a diagnostic to determine why my auditory systems have malfunctioned and Dr. Snow is monitoring my vitals while she cleans and seals my wounds," Artemis supplied.

Striding forwards, Tina studied him. Perched on the medical bed, he was sitting up straight as Caitlin Snow plucked glass, metal, and wood from his back. He didn't react as Caitlin removed a particularly nasty looking piece of jagged glass. For a moment Tina watched Caitlin work before moving on to study where the other wire snaked in behind his ear. There were no ports or other non-organic looking portions of his skin. The wire just seemed to meld seamlessly with his body. Tina went full circle around the bed before coming to stand in front of Artemis once more. "You have implants?"

"Human bodies can have flaws," he supplied. "Harrison has helped me to overcome the damage and flaws present in this body."

Tina was certain she didn't understand. She had a few stray thoughts, but she didn't know how accurate they were. Artemis had said that they'd conversed over computer. Tina was starting to wonder how much of his life Artemis had lived through his computer. Had he been born with physical issues that had impeded him so much that he had hidden behind a computer until Harrison had figured out a way to fix his body? Shaking her head, Tina decided she couldn't think about it. Too much had happened the last few days. Her mind was swimming in strange worlds, thoughts, and questions.

"Will you be alright?" Tina opted to ask the question which mattered most.

"Indeed," Artemis answered. "Once Caitlin has finished I will return to watching over Harrison." Sadness filled his bright blue eyes and he looked down at his hands. "While the visions have spiked his brain activity intermittently, they have once more dropped back down and his vitals continue to fluctuate. There are no signs that the serum you developed from Flash's blood has benefitted Harrison. Of course, it is still early." He spoke so softly Tina wasn't certain she'd heard him right. There was a long pause, and thinking he was done speaking, Tina patted him on the knee and turned to leave.

Soft hands caught hers and pulled her back with a strange combination of strength and care. "Chrissy, don't leave yet," he said as she turned to look into those blue eyes. "I have something I must give to you. For you only." There was a firmness to his words and tone. Frowning, she stared into those familiar blue eyes, losing herself in the pain and sadness which filled them. After a moment she nodded.

"Alright," she agreed.

"Sorry man," Cisco said, coming around and making sure that Artemis could see his face. "Looks like some of the receivers and translators were broken. It'll take me a while to program the nanos to effect the repairs. Whatever Hartley used on you guys, it disrupted some of the interface systems. Looks like you're going to be stuck being deaf for a while." He watched the other man's reaction.

"Thank you for your assistance, Cisco," Artemis answered. "I appreciate your efforts. I should be able to function close to my normal capacity by reading lips and body language." He smiled brightly at the other man, making Cisco feel a little better about having to give him the bad news.

"I'm going to disconnect you from the diagnostic computer now." Cisco waited to see Artemis nod before he moved from the other man's sight and removed the cord going in behind the cyborg's ear. Coming around to face her patient, Caitlin glanced at a wall panel where a readout of Artemis's vitals were displayed. She watched it for a long moment before nodding and reaching up to remove the chest cord.

"Alright Artemis," Caitlin began, giving her patient a stern look. "I've debrided the wounds and you are all stitched up. Do yourself a favour and rest some. I'll watch Harrison while you recuperate ."

"I am fine to return to Harrison," Artemis argued. Caitlin rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"I don't care. I want you to rest. The alarms will go off if Harrison needs us. I'll set up a cot in the bedroom and will be right there," Caitlin countered. They locked eyes for a long moment. When Artemis finally nodded his agreement and the female doctor turned away, there were tears in her eyes. Without looking at anyone else, she fled the room.

"Will she be alright?" Tina asked, watching the other woman go.

"I believe she is overwhelmed with emotion at the moment," Artemis answered softly. "Caitlin was attracted to Harrison. A few months ago it seemed they were building their relationship towards something more when everything changed. She now blames herself for Harrison's current condition." Turning to him, Tina studied his face. There was emotion there, but it seemed deadened.

"What was it you needed to give me?" She decided she would let his insensitivity go. Clearly Artemis wasn't used to interacting with other people on a personal level. Hopping down from the treatment bed, he strode over to a computer. Pausing, he grabbed up a thumb drive and stared at it.

"Harrison said if anything were to happen to him," he began, his eyes starting to glisten. "That I was to give this to you and not blame myself." He handed her the data drive, a look of confusion painting his face as he wiped a tear from his eye. "I don't understand," he said softly.

"Understand what?" Tina studied him. He looked both distraught and confused.

"Why I am crying."

"Well, you've had a long day. Your father has been in a coma for nearly seven weeks. You've been his primary caregiver during that entire time, and today you were nearly killed. Not to mention the realization that Harrison might never wake up, even if we heal his body. I think the only reason I'm not crying is because I've just started dealing with this," Tina guessed. More tears fell from his face and she realized that Artemis probably didn't have anyone to lean on at the moment. Everyone else was so busy dealing with their own pain and feelings of failing Harrison that they hadn't noticed how much Artemis was hurting. Without thinking, she reached out and pulled him into a hug. At first his body stayed rigid, but then he snuggled into her, his arms coming up to cling to her as tears fell more rapidly from his eyes and sobs shook his body.

"Woah," Cisco said softly, watching the two. Joe and Barry rounded the corner, stopping in their tracks as they watched Tina comfort the younger man.

Pulling away after several minutes, Tina took Artemis's face in her hands and made sure he was looking at her. "Your father wouldn't want you feeling like this," she declared. "Now, you need to lie down and rest like Dr. Snow instructed. Where's your bedroom?" She wiped tears gently from his eyes. He sniffled some and then stood straighter.

"Upstairs, next to," he paused to sniffle again, "Harrison's."

"Alright. Lead the way," Tina ordered. She tucked the thumb drive into her pocket and gave him a stern look, as she followed him back towards the elevator. They were silent as they rode the elevator back up and walked through the house.

"This is my room," Artemis declared as he led her into the bedroom a door down from Harrison's. It had a queen sized bed against one green wall, a desk with some rather interesting looking computers against the wall with windows, and a dresser on the other wall. There weren't many decorations, though there was a framed photograph on the bedside table.

"Come on, into bed," Tina ordered, going over to the bed. She pulled the bright red covers back and watched him settle atop the mattress. Wondering how many times Harrison had done this, she then tucked the covers in around him. "Get some rest. I have to work tomorrow, but I'll try to get by in the evening." He nodded his understanding, his eyes fixed on her lips. "You listen to Dr. Snow and do as she says." This time a smile surfaced on his face. Glancing at the framed photograph, it was Artemis and Harrison sitting together on a weight bench grinning foolishly as they flexed, Tina studied it. The smile made both men's eyes bright and Tina wondered if there were any baby pictures of Artemis. Seeing the photograph of the two men together, it was easy to tell they were related. Sighing, she patted the young man's chest once before standing and going to the door.

"Chrissy," Artemis called out. She paused and looked back at him. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now get some rest," Tina ordered. She watched him close his eyes and listened as his breathing evened out and became very slow and regular. Smiling to herself, she turned off the light and headed out. She encountered the rest of the group at the front door. She took in the quartet of Harrison's friends. "Artemis is sleeping. I told him I'd try to come by tomorrow after work. Please, make sure he rests. Clearly, he's been trying to stay strong through all this and needs someone."

"We will," Caitlin agreed. "It's easy to forget that Artemis is hurting too," she admitted. "I'll check on him periodically throughout the day and night."

"Me too," Cisco agreed. "Bye, Dr. McGee. Thanks for coming over." They all shook hands.

"Let me know if anything changes," Tina requested.

"Of course," Caitlin said.

"Thank you. I'll be by again in a few days. Good day everyone." Tina nodded at them before heading out to her car.

That evening, Tina went straight to her private computer when she got home. Pausing, she decided to get food and a shower first before seeing what the drive Artemis had given her contained. Clicking the drive into place, she headed for a shower. Twenty minutes later she returned to find her computer awaiting her approval to play an audio file. Sitting down and sipping at her tea, she took a moment to steel her nerves before she clicked play.

"Hello, Chrissy," an exhausted Harrison greeted the screen. Tina recognized him from the day she'd diagnosed the degeneration. "I'm sorry to dump this all on you, but a lot has happened, and I don't know who to trust. That said, this is it. All of it. Contained on this drive is all my research. My journal entries, data sets, tests, and updates of all the projects I'm working on. I've asked Artemis to give them to you. I don't know what you remember, but you have always been my best friend. You have always been here for me. All I ask is that you give me a chance. If you can't find your way to be my friend once more, Chrissy, please at least give Artemis an opportunity to prove himself to you. Don't hate him for who and what he is, because that's all on me. I'm trusting you to take care of him, help him. Please, don't let him down." The recording ended and the drive exited out to the main folders. There were four primary folders labeled, Artemis, Spinal Feedback Implant, and Mobility Facilitating Suit. Blinking, Tina clicked on the first.


	7. Chapter 7 - The Message

_**This chapter is pretty short and I almost cut it completely. That said, I left it in because I felt it was important information on Harrison's relationship with Artemis. I'll try to post another chapter soon! Reviews and comments welcomed! Thanks to LoveDragons for pointing out that I miscounted folders last time. Still sans Beta - so... wups. -CT**_

 **Chapter 7: The Message**

Cisco sighed as he watched Harrison's chest rise and fall with each breath. Artemis was asleep in his bedroom, recovering from his encounter with Hartley. Caitlin was in the lab, reviewing all the data she had collected and trying to figure out what, if anything, she could do more. All in all, the group was feeling the strain of dealing with Harrison's condition. Next to Cisco, Barry was also silently watching the comatose man. Cisco wondered what his friend was feeling.

"Caitlin blames herself," Cisco began, partly talking to Harrison and partly talking to Barry.

"I think everybody blames himself," Barry said, shaking his head.

"Judy and Rupert have come to visit," Artemis's computerized voice sounded from the ceiling. While his human body needed to rest, the program didn't, so Artemis had simply retreated into the computers and continued without the body.

"Thanks, Artemis," Cisco said. Sighing, he went and opened the door for Judy as she approached carrying Rupert in her arms.

"Thank you, Cisco," Judy greeted him. Flashing a brief smile, she went and sat down in the chair Cisco had vacated. "Hello, Harrison. How are you doing tonight?" While she addressed Harrison, she looked to Cisco for an answer.

"We've managed to increase his brain activity for short periods by using my powers to join him in memories, or the past," Cisco explained.

"Really?" Judy arched an eyebrow in interest. "Can you take Rupert and I into one?"

"Sure, we can try," Cisco said. Taking a few deep breaths, he looked around the room. "Harrison, Rupert and Judy are here to visit you." Shrugging, the engineer held Judy's hand and then reached out to take Harrison's.

 _The doorbell sounded. Looking up from the book he was reading, Harrison placed his bookmark and glanced back to make sure he wasn't about to run anything over as he backed up and steered his chair through the house and to the door. The doors had barely opened when Judy rushed in, trailing diaper bag and work bag with Rupert clutched in her arms._

" _Harrison, I'm so sorry to barge in on you like this," Judy began. In her arms, Rupert screamed and flailed his little hands. "I'm really so sorry, but you said you'd be here if I needed you." Tears started to stream down her face as she struggled to hold the child._

" _Okay, easy," Harrison began. "Come inside, get comfortable. Do you need me to hold Rupert?"_

" _He won't go to sleep and I have an important meeting tomorrow," Judy gushed, the tears flowing more freely as she clutched the infant tighter, but thrust the bags at Harrison. "I only got two hours of sleep last night. I can't do it again. I don't know what's wrong with him. He just cries. The link isn't sending anything useful!"_

" _Calm down. Come inside." Taking the bags, Harrison backed up and then turned so that he could lead the way back to the bedroom._

" _Oh no, I forgot the pack and play," Judy sobbed. She followed Harrison to the master bedroom._

" _Not a problem. I have one here and I can even get it set up on my own. Now, give Rupert to me and you try to get some rest," Harrison ordered, pointing at the bed._

" _Are you sure?" The tears continued to flow from her face, but Harrison nodded his head firmly._

" _Yes, I'm certain. I don't have anything important to do tomorrow. You do. Now, give." Holding his hands out, Harrison waited until she had deposited Rupert into his waiting arms, before smiling. "Good. Now into bed with you," he commanded. Wiping away tears, Judy kicked off her shoes and crawled into the bed, struggling with the covers and managing a weak smile as Harrison came forwards and pulled the blankets up to her chin._

" _Get me if you need me," Judy begged of him as he and Rupert headed out the door._

" _We'll be fine," Harrison assured her as he turned off the lights and left the room, left arm gently tucked around the infant in his lap. Rupert seemed to settle some, still sniffling and squirming in his father's lap. Once the bedroom door was closed and they were down the hall in the kitchen, Harrison glanced to the ceiling. "Artemis, diagnosis?" While he waited for a response, the human unpacked bottles from the diaper bag._

" _Based on my observations," Artemis's soft, almost feminine voice floated out, seeming to calm the upset infant farther. "I believe he is severely congested, in all probability due to a virus."_

" _My thoughts exactly," Harrison agreed, studying the tear streaked face of his young son. "Recommended treatment?"_

" _Increasing the humidity in the air should help improve respiration," Artemis replied._

" _Yes. Unfortunately, he is still too young for most medications. Think I'll give him some Tylenol to help ease any pain caused by sinus congestion. Increase the humidity in the living room and make a note of the time I administer the Tylenol."_

" _Increasing humidity. Is there anything else I can do for him?" For a machine, Artemis sounded very concerned._

 _A smile graced Harrison's face as he medicated the infant and rinsed the syringe he used. "I'm going to set us up in the living room. Any environmental adjustments you can make to help would be good. He might also enjoy a distraction to help take his sleepy mind off his misery." As he spoke, Harrison prepped a bottle and dropped it into the cup holder on the wheelchair._

" _Environmental settings adjusted. What would you suggest for a distraction?" Artemis asked as Harrison steered the chair into the room._

" _You're his older sibling. You decide. What did you enjoy at this age?"_

" _At this point in my programming, Tess was working with me on shapes, colours, the alphabet, and sounds," Artemis replied._

" _She loved to sing to you as well," Harrison mused, a wistful smile spreading across his face. He stopped the wheelchair next to the couch, grabbed a blanket from the back of the cushions, and with some difficulty spread the blanket on the floor._

 _There was silence from Artemis. As Harrison lowered first Rupert and then himself to the floor, holographic images appeared in the air at about waist height. On the floor, Harrison lifted Rupert into his arms and cradled the infant and offered the bottle. Clinging to the body of the bottle, the infant stared up at the shapes appearing mid-air and suckled happily on the nipple. Watching his son drink, bright eyes rolling in infantile ecstasy, Harrison smiled. Soft music played as the shapes changed. With each new shape a soft voice offered the shape and colour displayed._

" _Ah, Artemis, you're a natural," Harrison mused, looking up from gazing into Rupert's eyes._

" _Thank you, however, I had excellent teachers." Aretmis's response pulled another smile from Harrison, who had once more turned his attention to watching his infant son drink. "Has it occurred to you that should you be successful in the engineering of the suit and assume the life of a vigilante that it could result in your death?" If he hadn't known that Artemis was just a very intelligent computer program, Harrison might have thought he heard a touch of worry in the computer's feminine voice._

" _I am aware of that, Artemis, thank you for pointing it out though," Harrison answered. A flash of worry came to him over the link. "I also know that my relationship with the others will never heal if I don't try to make amends for what I did to them in their timeline."_

" _You mean what Eobard Thawne did to them," Artemis corrected._

" _What I did to them, in their eyes," Harrison countered. "You're worried," he observed._

" _I am not programmed to worry," Artemis answered._

" _No matter what happens, Artemis, this is my decision and nobody's fault but my own," Harrison informed the computer program. Shifting around on the floor, he then proceeded to sing a soft lullaby, the conversation finished._

The vision ended gently, fading off as Harrison seemed to drift off to sleep, a snoozing Rupert tucked up safely on the floor next to him. Blinking, the quartet of Cisco, Barry, Judy, and Rupert looked around at each other. "I guess that answers that question," the young engineer mused. "Harrison pretty much ordered Artemis not to let anyone blame themselves." Sighing, the quartet fell silent, uncertain what else could or should be said.


	8. Chapter 8 - Confrontation

**Chapter 8: Confrontation**

The air in Harrison's bedroom rushed around the room as Barry arrived and took a seat next to the bed. "How's he doing?" Barry asked as he studied the man in the bed. The trio were seated in a line of chairs positioned along one side of the bed. Harrison took up a pitiful amount of space in the king bed so Joe was sprawled on the far half, a soft snore issuing from the sleeping detective. The collection of machines and equipment keeping Harrison alive was arranged along the wall next to the bed.

"Well," Caitlin began, looking over data on a tablet. "There appears to be a slow but steady improvement in his physical condition. The serum Dr. McGee replicated from Flash's blood seems to be helping." She managed a smile before continuing, "Artemis figured out that since Carlton moved in, Harrison's brain activity has increased. Apparently Carlton has been keeping up a constant litany."

"That's good, right?" Barry looked over to where the meta-rosebush whispered. Caitlin nodded. "You hear that, Carlton? You're helping. Thank you." The plant seemed to sway towards Barry in response.

"He said you are welcome, but he fears it is not enough," Artemis translated as he stepped into the room. Cisco had managed to get the cyborg's auditory systems working again, but Artemis had seemed oddly withdrawn. Whenever there had been guests, he had vanished down to the lab, out into the back yard, or into his room.

"Artemis, how are you feeling?" Barry asked, studying the man intently.

"My body is healing at an acceptable rate," came the clinical response. The trio watched silently as Artemis checked Harrison's vitals and changed out the bandages on his chest. When he was done he left silently.

"Is he okay?" Barry hadn't spent as much time with the cyborg as Cisco and Caitlin, but he had a feeling the man wasn't doing well.

"He gave Dr. McGee the journals Harrison made over the last seven months," Cisco supplied. "They detail how Artemis was made along with everything else. I think he's afraid Dr. McGee is going to treat him differently if she knows the truth."

"You mean that he's an autonomous extension of a computer program?" Barry asked, quoting Artemis. At Cisco's nod, Barry frowned. "He does realize that he's more human than some people, right?" With a sigh, Cisco shrugged.

"He's afraid," Tina's voice rang out as she stepped into the room. "Good evening."

"Dr. McGee," Caitlin stood and glanced at the two men.

"Dr. Snow, Mr. Ramon, Mr. Allen." Tina looked around the room. "My apologies for not coming over sooner. Between work and Harrison's journals, I didn't have much time." She let out a long sigh and walked to the bed, sitting gently on the edge to study Harrison. "I watched the recordings, Harrison." Reaching out, she brushed some hair away from his face. "It was nice to have my friend back, but it hurt to see you in so much pain."

"You've watched all the journals?" Cisco scooted forwards to the edge of his seat. "So, you know about," he trailed off, looking to Caitlin and Barry.

"His activities as the Chameleon, Artemis, and the serum, yes," Tina supplied. "Have you had any more luck using your powers?"

"No. Would you mind sharing the suit details with me? I've figured some of it out, but not all of it. Artemis refuses to tell me much more." Cisco couldn't hide his frustration with the cyborg. He wanted to know more about the suit, but Artemis had only let him study it briefly.

"He's operating under Harrison's orders. Now," she looked to the ceiling and raised her voice. "Artemis, get your arse in here!"

"Yes, Chrissy?" He stood motionless, watching them. Pressing her lips firmly together, Tina waved him over grabbing his hand and dragging him down so that he plopped onto the empty seat next to Caitlin.

"Everyone hold hands," Tina ordered. She watched as they shifted and clasped hands. "Now, Harrison, you told me how you feel about Artemis. Think about your favourite memory of him. That moment when you realized what he meant to you." Taking a breath, she reached out and took his hand.

 _Artemis was struggling to walk. He understood how it was done, but couldn't get his own body to do it. "Calm down," Harrison said gently as he watched the young man struggle to slide a leg forwards. "Try not to get frustrated. You were only born two days ago."_

" _Why am I unable to master this skill? It should be simple!" A frown marred Artemis's face and Harrison's heart melted. It was Tess's frown and frustration. It always used to bother her when she struggled with something she felt should be easy._

" _Yes, and in two days you have mastered speaking, using the restroom, eating, spacial distances, and you've gotten pretty good with a wheelchair," Harrison countered. Reaching up, he grabbed the parallel bars Artemis was working on and pulled himself up so that their matching eyes locked. "This is hard, son. I know that. Getting angry and frustrated just makes it harder." He studied the young man, an idea blossoming in his head. "Get back in your chair and follow me to the mats."_

 _A moment later they were both sitting in their chairs at the edge of several exercise mats spread across the room. "Come on." With a sly grin, Harrison transferred to the floor, rearranging his legs and rolling so that he was on his stomach. "Now, I don't have nearly the control as you," Harrison said, watching Artemis carefully climb out of the chair to sit on the floor._

" _What are we doing?" Artemis frowned and rolled onto his stomach as well._

" _Well, you're only 48 hours old. Most humans learn to crawl first, then walk. Since you're having problems with the walking, let's try crawling." With some effort, Harrison got up on his hands and knees. "You've seen me do this before."_

" _Yes," Artemis nodded and after some awkward false starts managed to get his body into the same basic position. "How do humans coordinate their bodies?"_

" _Years of practice, which you are trying to fit into a matter of days. Okay, on the count of three, we're racing to the weight bench at the other end. First one to it and sitting wins," Harrison instructed. Nodding, Artemis focused on the weight bench. "Three!" Harrison's gleeful shout echoed around the room and the two men took off. While Artemis had full use of his body, Harrison was better at coordinating his, despite having to use his arms to move his legs._

" _Come on, Artemis," Harrison called out. Other voices joined his as the group watching cheered, unheard by the man and cyborg. Laughter rang out as the two men drew nearer to their target. "Artemis, you're slowing down. I'm going to win!" The smile on Harrison's face seemed to spurn Artemis on so that he lifted his gaze and focused on the weight bench, picking up speed._

" _Go Artemis!" Cisco shouted as he watched the memory unfold. The determination emanating from Artemis filled them all, while a joy seeped in from Harrison._

 _Artemis reached the weight bench just before Harrison but had some trouble getting himself upright. The two men managed to get settled on the bench at the same time. "Tie, I think," Harrison mused. "Race you back to the chairs." With a grin, Harrison slid to the floor and took off again. After a moment of watching, Artemis staggered to his feet, managed a few wobbly steps, dropped to his knees, and crawled as fast as he could. Once more the watchers cheered as the two men raced across the floor. Artemis quickly caught up with Harrison. They reached their chairs and stopped there, panting and exchanging looks. Harrison was grinning widely._

" _Good. We'll call it a day for now," Harrison announced. The vision blurred and the group watched as Harrison sat in his manual wheelchair and let Artemis use him as a human walker. Their outfits had changed and the team could tell the memory was a few days after the previous. Artemis clutched Harrison's hand and pushed the wheelchair back with each step. "Keep going! You're doing great!" Harrison encouraged the cyborg._

" _How do the young learn this?" Artemis watched his feet, his grip on Harrison's hands like steel._

" _Practice," Harrison replied. "Artemis," his intense gaze focused on the younger man. "Artemis, look at me, not your feet." He watched, waiting for Artemis to follow his orders. "Son, look at me, it might help." After a wobbly moment, the young cyborg looked up and focused on the man helping him. "Good. You're doing great." With each step, Artemis grew more and more confident until he was only holding Harrison's hands, no longer leaning or clinging to him._

" _This feels less difficult," Artemis observed. "Can we turn around and go back across the floor?" Instead of speaking, Harrison just nodded. "I'd like to try it on my own, please."_

" _Of course." Staying close, Harrison moved to the other man's side as they crossed the room once more. "That's it! You've got this now!" The excitement in the older man's voice made it raise a little, and Artemis actually smiled. They stopped at the weight bench. "Good. Take a break." With a sigh of relief, the cyborg dropped down to sit._

" _I did it," Artemis said, looking back across the room. Nodding, Harrison quickly transferred to the bench so that he was sitting next to the younger man._

" _You sure did." Patting Artemis on the back, Harrison smiled. "Hey, you know what, we need a picture. Can you control your external sensors?"_

" _Of course," Artemis answered calmly._

" _Good. You have a camera just there. Look there, smile, and let's take a picture. Show off those muscles." Grinning proudly, Harrison demonstrated with a childish grin which grew wider as Artemis mimicked him. Chuckling, Harrison smiled proudly as Artemis flashed a smile for the camera._

The vision ended there and the group looked around, a little shocked at the change in scenery. Artemis recovered first, bolting to his feet and fleeing from the room. "Artemis," Tina called out, moving to follow him before anyone else. Instead of following, the remaining trio opted to give them some privacy.


	9. Chapter 9 - Understanding

**Chapter 9: Understanding**

Tina found Artemis out in the garden. He was sitting just off the path in a clear spot. He did not look up as the woman approached. Tina sat down as closely to Artemis as she could. The couple stayed silent for several long minutes. "Penny for your thoughts," Tina finally offered, wondering if he knew what the phrase meant.

"He was so proud," Artemis finally said. "He was so happy and proud just because I mastered the basic challenge of walking." Confusion and amazement made his voice soft and low. "Why?" He didn't look at her, instead keeping his gaze fixed on the garden.

"Because, a parent takes great pride and pleasure watching his or her child grow." Tina's answer was gentle and she carefully rested her left hand on his right shoulder. "He called you son, Artemis. To Harrison, you are precisely that, his son. How much of his journal have you seen or heard?"

"I am aware that he referred to me as son. I had determined that he meant it to be affectionate, not a designation," Artemis continued, ignoring her question.

"Artemis, he even said in his journal that to him, you are his child. He described the pride he felt as he watched you make your way in our world. A pride we all just experienced in that vision. Harrison and Tess wrote the basics of your program with the intention that you learn like a human. I've seen all the files, even old journal entries made by Tess. The two of them taught and raised your program like their child. Even after they took in a foster child, they introduced him to you as a sibling." She placed a hand gently on his shoulder, leaning in to make sure he heard her. "When Tess died, Harrison could have abandoned you. Shut your program down. Instead he kept working with you. I can safely say you could call him Dad or Father and he would be ecstatic." Tine watched his face intently as she spoke. It was important to her that Artemis understand the relationship he had with Harrison.

"Dad?" He frowned as he said the word, his gaze focused forwards and not on the woman next to him. "Why would me applying that designation to him please Harrison?"

"That is something I'm not certain I can explain." Sighing, Tina stared out at the garden. "You're his son. You acknowledging him as your father would please him because he is so proud of you." They locked eyes and Tina could tell the cyborg didn't understand. Instead of trying again, she opted to just sit with him.

They were sitting silently when Cisco hesitantly came out to stand next to them. For a moment he squirmed in discomfort before breaking the silence. "Caitlin has something she wants to show you," Cisco declared.

"What?" Artemis asked, standing. He paused a moment before turning to offer Tina a helping hand. Taking it, Tina allowed him to pull her to her feet, aware that he clung to her hand a bit longer than necessary.

Cisco started heading back inside. "Caitlin said that not only did us joining Harrison on that vision cause the highest spike in brain activity yet, his brain activity hasn't dropped back down as low yet."

They entered the house heading to the master bedroom. "What was different about this time?" Tina asked, nodding a greeting to Barry, Caitlin, and a now conscious Joe.

"Several factors were different," Artemis declared. "This was the largest group to share the vibratory vision, my first time joining, and the first time Harrison seemed aware of us."

"What do you mean aware of us?" Caitlin asked, looking up from the data she had been showing Tina.

"Harrison looked briefly confused when you were all cheering for me," Artemis said. An image popped up on the computer screen on the desk. "I have made comparisons. This is the original data." An image of a smiling Harrison showed on the screen. "This is approximately the same time in the vision." A similar image popped up, in which Harrison's brow was wrinkled above his smile.

"Wait, you were able to record the vision?" Cisco turned to the cyborg, grabbing Artemis's shoulders. Excitement made Cisco's eyes dance and the smile he was holding back kept tugging at the corner of his lips.

"Yes. My visual cortex is equipped to record everything that I see. You take us into the vision, so I was able to document it in entirety. Save for the emotional input. I am unable to record feelings." Artemis didn't seem to understand why Cisco was so excited.

"We need to try this again," Caitlin declared. She was doing her best to stay clinical and focused. She'd stopped getting her hopes up weeks ago. "Maybe if we try for an older memory and add Joe to the group it will trigger a stronger reaction."

"How old a memory?" Barry asked. He had quickly become as involved in Harrison's care as everyone else, but he feared Harrison waking. He'd messed up so badly and he wasn't certain if Harrison would want to be his friend. "Older memories aren't going to necessarily be as strong. That last memory was strong partly because it was so emotional but also because it was so recent."

"So, we need a strong older memory," Tina surmised. "Harrison," she began, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "Do you remember your grandparents? You once told me they were as good as any parents. Can you think of a time as a child when they were really there for you?" There was silence as she looked up to the group and Cisco started arranging people. When the engineer seemed happy with where everyone was, he nodded.

"What's going on?" Joe was still a little groggy. He'd woken shortly after the vision had ended and Caitlin, Barry, and Cisco had filled him in on what he'd missed.

"Everyone hold hands," Cisco ordered. Taking Tina's hand, he held their clasped hands up to demonstrate. He watched as everyone joined hands. Checking the links one last time, Cisco nodded, took a deep breath, and took Harrison's hand.

 _A man of about fifty was watching as a young boy of perhaps ten trudged down the road. Frowning, the man, Alec Snithe, pushed the front door open and stepped out as his grandson slowly approached. "Are you okay?" Alec called, concern filling his voice. "Ell, Harrison's home," he called back into the house when the boy didn't answer. In five long strides he was to the gangly dark-haired boy. "Harrison?"_

" _I'm fine," the young Harrison grumbled, his accent sounding very much like his grandfather's. He pushed past the man and continued towards the house. "Leave me alone."_

" _Harrison?" Alec couldn't leave the boy. There was blood on the child's shirt, and he could tell that his grandson would soon be sporting a black eye. "You aren't fine. What happened to you?" He stayed at the boy's side, easily keeping up. Once more Harrison shrugged the man off and kept walking, while the door to the house opened and Eleanor Snithe stepped out onto the front porch._

" _Oy there," Eleanor called out, sitting on the top step and blocking Harrison's path. "Gramps was talking to you."_

" _I hate when you call me that," Alec grumbled. He was average height, with light brown hair, bright blue eyes, and a nose that hadn't healed completely straight after a break._

" _I know," Eleanor replied with a grin. She had bright red hair, dark green eyes, and pale, pale skin. It was clear that Harrison had inherited her smile. "Come on Lumpy, out with it. What happened?" Her accent was a blend of Scottish and English._

" _Nothing happened," Harrison replied, his own accent copying Eleanor's._

" _Oh? That's nothing then is it?" She poked at a rapidly swelling eyebrow, making the child cry out and pull away._

" _Don't," Harrison cried out, waving at her hand. Tears glistened in his eyes as he glowered at her, clearly trying to contain emotions._

" _Come on Cap'n. What's going on?" Alec tried again. He knelt so that he was on the same level as his grandson. His words were soft and gentle. After a moment, Harrison threw himself into his grandfather's arms, tears falling. "Easy there, I've gotcha now Captain." Scooping the boy up, Alec carefully sat on the step next to his wife._

" _Blokes at school picking on you again?" Eleanor asked, rubbing a soothing hand over the small back._

" _I knew an answer I wasn't supposed to know," came the muffled words from Alec's shoulder. "Teacher thought I cheated and looked at the answer book."_

" _Yeah? I'll have a chat with her," Alec said, glancing to his wife. Her eyes were locked on their grandson, reflecting the child's pain._

" _Why do I know so much?" Harrison demanded. "Why am I so different?"_

" _Ah, luv, being different is part of life," Eleanor assured him. "You are a perfect blend of your father and your mother." A sad smile tugged at her lips as she took him into her arms so that his long frame stretched across grandmother and grandfather. "And I know the children at school pick on you because they think your mother abandoned you, but she didn't my little luv. Neither of them did. They just left you in this world with us." The family sat there, huddled together on the porch, holding each other._

" _I'm not going to answer any more questions at school," Harrison declared. "Can you teach me at home?" Once more the grandparents exchanged worried looks._

" _Tell you what sport," Alec began, making sure their matching eyes locked. "You get good marks at school, and I'll tutor you in chemistry, biology, maths, and medicine."_

" _I'll work with you on languages, literature, and world history," Eleanor added._

" _I can play dumb at school?" Harrison had his head pillowed on his grandmother's shoulder._

" _Not dumb, but we will help you learn outside of it," Alec clarified. "I still expect you to do your best. Alright Captain?" With a sniffle, Harrison nodded. "Right. Now, let your doctor have a look at this." Carefully the man probed at the swelling around Harrison's eye._

" _Hurts," Harrison grumbled._

 _The room changed, and it wasn't Alec probing Harrison's black eye, but Nora Allen checking on Barry. The group watched in silent horror as the night unfolded. Reverse-Flash battled Flash and then stabbed Nora. Several voices cried out in horror as young Barry pulled back the cover revealing his mother's body. "Mom!"_

The vision ended abruptly, leaving the group shocked and in some cases, crying. Artemis was the first to recover, going over to check the readouts for Harrison's brain waves. "It worked," the cyborg declared. "The vision of Barry's childhood actually triggered a stronger reaction. The brain activity has dropped once more, but it is still twice as high as it had been."

"Two times nothing is still nothing," Cisco said, hugging himself. "Barry, man, I am so sorry." Unable to contain the emotions, the engineer enveloped his friend in a tight hug. "I can't believe you went through that."

"Thanks man," Barry said, surprise painting his face as he returned the hug. "How did we end up in my past?"

"And the original past at that," Caitlin pointed out, her attention primarily on the brainwave readout.

"I've done it before," Cisco said. "Harrison touched me and relived Eobard shoving his hand through my chest. From there we ended up in a vision of Harrison's timeline. I just go where the vibes take me." He shrugged and sat, tired from using his powers so much. "Did it really help?"

"Yes," Caitlin said, holding out the proof. Tina studied it as well and nodded. "But, we should probably limit how often we do that. The larger group seems to help, but it looks like it puts more of a stress on his body."

"Okay. So, why don't we call that a night," Barry suggested. "I need to get some rest and so do all of you."

"Right," Joe agreed with a nod. The group started filing out. "I'll tell you this, Harrison was a cute little kid."

"Mr. Allen as well," Tina agreed with a nod. "Plus we now know how Harrison's intellect didn't become apparent to the rest of the world until he was older," she added thoughtfully. She had always wondered why Harrison hadn't been better known in the science world when he was younger. Now she knew, he'd hidden who he really was because of bullies at school. Shaking her head and feeling a sadness for him, Tina followed them out and saw them off. Still thoughtful, she then turned back and returned to Harrison's bedroom. Artemis was sitting silently watching his creator. "You did very well," Tina said, after watching him sit motionless. Blinking, Artemis looked up at her.

"Thank you," Artemis said after a long moment of studying her. "For everything."

"You're welcome," Tina said, moving to sit next to him. He didn't pull away and she gently reached out and took his hand. "I am here for you, Artemis. Knowing what you are, the unusual circumstances behind your being, doesn't change how I think about you. It just makes me more amazed. Please, believe me when I tell you that you can lean on me."

"I do," Artemis replied. "Your body is not showing the common stress signs associated with lying." Studying him, Tina started to smile as she realized he might have been telling a joke. "I am also here for you." He gave her hand a squeeze. "With your help I am confident that we can save my father's life."

"As am I," Tina said, filing away the fact that he'd called Harrison his father. "Besides, I'm not about to let the ruddy bastard die without giving him a piece of my mind first."

"And I have several things I wish to share with him as well." They fell silent, their hands still gently clasped together as they watched over Harrison.


	10. Chapter 10: The Detective

_**Salutations! Sorry for the delay in posting. I have family coming in to visit for the holiday and so have been desperately attempting to tame my life long enough to add four additional people into it! That said, it might be a bit before I get a chance to post again. As always, no beta, so all mistakes are my own. Also, many thanks to those who have reviewed previous chapters. Reviews help keep me motivated! Thanks - CT**_

 **Chapter 10: The Detective**

Barry was working on processing samples from a simple robbery case when Joe entered the lab, plopping down and watching Barry work. "What's up?" Barry asked, looking up from the DNA results he was in the process of comparing back to the suspect.

"I'm getting frustrated with the Harrison impersonator case," Joe answered honestly. He'd been assigned all the cases where the perpetrator looked like Harrison. After the video of Harrison being transferred home had leaked out, the crimes had stopped. Apparently the criminal knew better than to try to incriminate a nearly dead man.

"Wish I could help," Barry said softly.

"Maybe we can help each other," Hallow said, stepping into the lab. He came to stand a few feet from Joe.

"Yeah?" Joe eyed the other detective. Lee Hallow was a recent transfer from Keystone. The precinct had lost enough people to damage from the singularity that there were a number of new transfers. From what Joe had heard, Hallow was quiet, smart, and tenacious. He rarely failed to close a case.

"I caught the Hartley Rathaway case," Hallow said. There was a drawn out silence. Letting out a sigh, Hallow leaned against the desk. "I know you're friends with Harrison Wells. What do you know about his history with Hartley Rathaway?" Exchanging looks, Joe and Barry both shrugged.

"Not much," Joe admitted honestly. He hadn't looked into it since the timeline had changed.

Hallow dropped a folder onto the desk. Sitting, Barry opened it and shared the contents with Joe. While the two men perused the pictures and reports, Hallow spoke. "Dr. Wells fired Rathaway a little over three years ago. Rathaway assaulted Wells because Wells turned down his advances. Officially, Rathaway was fired for sexual harassment. His temper was sighted as a reason as well."

"Hartley hit Dr. Wells with an empty beaker?" Barry looked up from the evidence photo. At Hallow's nod, the younger man turned to the next photo. It was documentation of the damage the beaker had done.

"Harrison has scars on his back from this," Joe stated. "I always assumed all the scars, even the ones higher up, were from the accelerator." Hallow gave him a look, but didn't respond. "Harrison didn't press charges. What does this have to do with our current cases?"

Arching an eyebrow, Hallow dropped another file onto Barry's desk. He started speaking as the other two men opened it. "You remember the case you and Detective Thawne caught at Wells's house?" Joe shook his head. He didn't know how Harrison's version of the timeline had gone. Rather than be wrong, he just opted to be forgetful. "A year ago Wells was attacked in his home. The skylight was blown up, and Wells blasted into a wall. He claimed he didn't know who had done it, but reported receiving a prank call just before it happened. You and your partner Eddie Thawne were unable to ID the caller. Wells was patched up by Dr. Caitlin Snow, and nothing else seemed to happen. According to your report." Hallow gave Joe a hard look.

"He was pretty badly bruised and had minor lacerations to his hands and face from the falling glass," Barry observed, holding up the photograph. "I remember now. So much has happened in the last year, it's easy to forget." At least now he knew how it would have happened if Eobard hadn't been a speedster. He wondered if Harrison had saved the day like Eobard. "This still doesn't connect to the new cases," Barry pointed out.

"No?" Another folder landed in front of the speedster. "The next day Rathaway attacked his family company. Flash stopped him, but the damage he did was identical to the damage in the Wells attack. Now Rathaway is back."

"What does that have to do with my cases?" Joe looked up from the files, trying not to lose himself in the exploration of the different timeline.

"I think Rathaway has fixated on Wells. He attacked you and Wells outside that restaurant. Nearly killed you. Seems to me he tried to discredit Wells with your cases. Now that the world knows it can't be Wells, Rathaway is on a rampage."

"Yeah, but he hasn't tried to discredit Harrison before this. He's just tried to kill him," Joe pointed out.

"That's not completely true," Barry said hesitantly. Hallow leaned in closer, eyes locked intently on the CSI. "About five months ago Hartley restarted the accelerator. He nearly killed Cisco and Harrison doing it. If that meta hadn't been there to counter Hartley's device, the accelerator would have gone online and exploded again. I don't know if it would have killed Cisco and Harrison or just made them metas, but it definitely would have landed Harrison in the hot seat again."

"Guess you both are pretty close with that whole group up there," Hallow observed.

"Dr. Wells and his team saved my life," Barry supplied. It was the same in both timelines. In the one most people remembered, Harrison had been treated in the same hospital as Barry. From what Cisco had told them about his vision, helping Barry had been what got Harrison out of bed and determined to do what he could for the survivors.

"You're the kid who got struck by lightning?" Hallow arched an eyebrow at Barry.

"Yeah. The hospital couldn't get me stabilized, but Harrison, Caitlin, and Cisco brought me to S.T.A.R. labs and stabilized me there. I owe them my life," Barry explained.

"Interesting. Now Hartley has tried to kill Detective West, and reactivate the accelerator. Still think he isn't obsessed with Harrison Wells?" Hallow's words sent Barry back to looking over the files. "If he hadn't been flying so far under the radar, I'd tell Artemis Wells to watch his back. As it is, I'm going to put Wells and whoever is at his house under protective custody. Now that word has gotten out that Wells is dying, Hartley might try to accelerate the process."

"You figured this all out yourself?" Barry asked, still gazing at the stack of files.

"I may not have a million science degrees, but I'm not dumb," Hallow countered. He stood to his full height, and started to gather folders together.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to imply anything," Barry countered, reaching out to stop the detective. Barry wanted to look over the files more. Hallow paused to glare at Barry. "Look, I think you're right. The question is, what will Hartley do next?"

"Yeah. We've been over the list of stuff he stole. None of it makes any sense. Dr. McGee said her prototype was still in a testing phase. Her team hadn't found a real use for it," Joe added.

"Rathaway has been pretty quiet since he blasted Baby Wells," Hallow added. "How come there's so little on that kid?" He arched a curious eyebrow.

"Artemis was born prematurely and was really sick as a result," Barry said. The whole team knew the story Harrison and Artemis had set up. "Dr. McGee managed to arrange for him to get special care and treatment at a facility in England. It's the only reason he's alive."

"Most of his contact with people was through the computer. He was too sick to do much more. The treatments have not only saved his life, but slowly brought him back to what most consider normal health. Kid is smart as hell," Joe added.

"Still struggling on the social front though," Barry mused.

"I imagine the hearing loss doesn't help," Hallow agreed. "Is that why the world doesn't know about him? You won't believe how hard I had to dig to get anything on the kid. The hospital where he was born burned down a few years after his birth, and the one where he did his training and rotations was blown up about a year ago. Only their electronic records remain."

"From what I understand, Harrison and the few people who knew about Artemis decided that keeping him out of the limelight would be better for him," Joe explained. "You can always ask Artemis these questions. Just keep in mind, he may be the most socially inept human in the world."

"Right. Well, I'm heading to the Wells house to speak with anyone who might have any information on Hartley Rathaway and his relationship with Harrison Wells. I also need to figure out the protective detail. I'm going to try to keep it limited to external observation only," Hallow said heading for the door.

"Mind if I join you?" Joe asked, jumping up from his chair. At the door Hallow paused. Giving Joe a silent look, the other man finally waved his hand and waited for Joe to catch up. The two men left together.

Once he was certain they were gone, Barry pulled out his phone. He hoped somebody at the house would answer. He didn't want them to be caught by surprise. There wasn't anything to hide at the house, but it wouldn't do to have the man show up while Carlton was running around Harrison's bedroom. Glancing at the files once more, Barry waited for the line to connect.


	11. Chapter 11: Cyber Attack

_**Greetings! Thank you all who have reviewed previous chapters. I really appreciate those. I'm trying to update as much as I can before my house is invaded by guests. After Thursday postings might be delayed. Still no beta, but thanks to those who have offered. I'm going solo because I've had such bad luck with betas. (None of my betas were bad, they just had to leave - rather than risk running somebody else off the site, I'll go solo). All mistakes are my own. I try to read and edit each chapter multiple times, but I know I'm lousy with punctuation. Sorry. I try. That said, thanks for reading, and enjoy! - CT**_

 **Chapter 11: Cyber Attack**

There was a muted silence hanging over the house as Joe led Hallow inside. As they padded down the hallway, Cisco's voice floated down the hall to them. "Artemis, can I crash here tonight? I got into a big fight with my parents and the landlord hasn't finished fixing my apartment yet."

"Of course," Artemis's voice was a bit louder and clearer. "I will have a room ready before 1900 tonight. Joe, Detective Hallow, what can we do for you?"

"Uh," Hallow stopped in the doorway, surprised that the young doctor had known he was there with Joe. The two detectives had only just stepped into sight.

"Hey Artemis, Cisco," Joe said, nodding greetings to both of them. "Cisco, this is Detective Lee Hallow, he has some questions for you guys regarding Hartely Rathaway."

"Thanks, Detective West," Hallow said, glancing at Joe and entering the kitchen. He watched Artemis as the cyborg made a cup of coffee and leaned back against the counter. There was something about the way the young man held himself that seemed off to Hallow.

"Greetings, Detective Hallow," Artemis said. "What are your questions?" The cyborg's face was blank, void of emotion.

"I was hoping you could enlighten me about the relationship between your father and Rathaway," Hallow said. He studied the way the young man simply stood, patiently waiting. It seemed to the detective that the young man could stand impossibly still.

"Uhm," Cisco looked to Artemis, uncertain where the other man was going with his questions.

"You believe that there is some connection between Hartely and the man who was masquerading as Dad," Artemis observed. "That is entirely possible." A beeping noise sounded and Artemis picked up a tablet. "Highly possible. It would appear that somebody is attempting to hack my security systems. Based on the methods used, I believe it is Hartley."

"Can you block him?" Joe asked.

"Of course," Artemis replied. He started to tap at the tablet, but Hallow reached out, stopping the young man. For some reason, Hallow hadn't expected to feel the warm soft flesh of the young doctor. He'd expected something metallic, though Hallow couldn't say why.

"Actually, can you control which systems he gains access to?" Hallow asked, his hand holding Artemis's.

"Indeed," Artemis cocked his head, studying the silver-haired detective. "I am currently blocking his attempts to gain access to visual and audio feed. Which would you like me to allow him to have access to?"

"Video only. No audio," Hallow suggested.

"Uhm, what are you doing?" Cisco asked, stepping up and looking worried and a confused.

"Taking control," Hallow said. "If we know what Hartley is seeing, we might be able to use that to our advantage."

"Why let Hartley see anything at all?" Cisco asked, fear making his voice low.

"To end this," Hallow said simply. He locked his blue eyes on Cisco and the engineer swore to never play poker with the detective. Those eyes were emotionless, like Artemis's could be at times.

"You want to use Harrison as bait," Joe said, uncertain how he felt about the other detective's plan.

"Whoa. Wait a minute," Cisco said, holding a hand up to get Artemis to stop.

"I concur with Detective Hallow. The bedrooms and bathrooms are not under surveillance so Hartley will only have access to hallways and shared living areas. This will provide us with an advantage over him," Artemis said. Cisco glowered at the cyborg. Sometimes, Artemis was so human that Cisco forgot he was part computer. Right now, the engineer found the computer portion of Artemis extremely irritating.

"You're talking about using Harrison as bait. That will put him in danger," Cisco countered.

"I disagree," Artemis spoke before Hallow could. For his part, Hallow was a little surprised with the young man's position. He hadn't expected the younger Wells to be willing to risk his father. "The situation is already dangerous. Clearly, Detective Hallow is correct in his deduction that Hartley is targeting Dad. By controlling what Hartley can see, we increase our chances of stopping him with minimal injuries."

"Okay, Artemis, I get it, but you have to give us mere humans a chance to process this," Joe countered. "Can we at least go into Harrison's bedroom so we can talk in private before you let Hartley into the system?"

"He's right, Dr. Wells," Hallow said. "We should discuss this out of view of Rathaway."

"Very well. I will block his attempts until we are in a private room." Artemis stood to his full height, apparently waiting for them to decide where they were going.

"Harrison's room, now," Joe said, starting towards the bedroom. The others moved to follow, Cisco stopping Artemis and handing the cyborg the tablet before it was left behind.

"You'll need this to control what Hartley has access to," Cisco said pointedly, shooting a look at Hallow. There was a brief moment where Artemis looked confused, but it passed quickly as he took the tablet and they headed to the room.

"He doesn't look like much," Hallow observed as they entered the room. He stood for a moment, studying Harrison Wells and the many machines hooked up to the comatose man. Coming out of the bathroom, Caitlin frowned at the group. "Lee Hallow," the detective offered his hand to Caitlin. "I'll be staying for a while to help protect you."

"Dr. Caitlin Snow. Why do we need protecting?" Caitlin hesitantly took the hand, looking to the others in confusion.

"Hartley hacked Artemis's security system," Cisco explained. "Detective Hallow and Artemis decided to let him have access to the cameras so anytime you aren't in a bedroom or bathroom, Hartley will be watching us." The young engineer glowered at Artemis, apparently unhappy with the decisions the cyborg had made.

"That doesn't sound safe," Caitlin said, her gaze darting worriedly to her patient.

"Look, we pretend I'm an uncle or boyfriend or something, and Rathaway won't think I am here as part of my job," Hallow began. "I already have men watching the house for protection purposes."

"Not my uncle or boyfriend," Cisco said, shaking his head and going over to plop down in a seat next to Carlton.

"If he's only watching on video, how do we convince him of either?" Caitlin asked.

"Small displays of affection in the hallways and public areas," Joe suggested. "Hand holding, looks, things like that. Also, using the same bedroom. I'll do it. I'm staying in the room down the hall and to the right. If he investigates your identity, it will look like we met at work," Joe said. "He may know we have another cop here but Hartley won't know we're on to him."

"I have allowed Hartley access to the cameras," Artemis informed them all.

"Good. Hallow, I'll see you out. Go home, get a bag packed. Caitlin, why don't you call in an order of extra groceries. Hallow, stop by the lab, let Barry know what's going on here," Joe ordered.

"I have already contacted both Barry and Chrissy," Artemis informed them. "They have agreed to play along." Luckily he was still holding the tablet, so it looked like he was referring to an e-mail.

"Okay. Joe, let's go," said Hallow. Nodding, Joe followed the other man out, leaving Cisco, Caitlin, and Artemis alone together.

"Man, we so have to get you a cell phone so you can fake getting information," Cisco said, shaking his head at the clueless cyborg.

"Well, the good news is that Harrison's vitals seem to have stabilized in the last twenty-four hours," Caitlin declared, taking pity on the cyborg and changing the subject.. "Physically he appears to be steadily improving. Slowly, but there is improvement."

"Seriously?" Cisco tried hard to suppress the surge of hope he felt upon hearing those words.

"Yes. I double checked everything," Caitlin explained.

"I have notified Chrissy. She intends to be over in a few hours," Artemis declared.

"Thank you. Artemis, you should probably contact Judy and tell her not to bring Rupert over until we have the situation with Hartley resolved," Caitlin suggested.

"A wise suggestion. Judy will not to want to endanger Rupert," Artemis agreed. He fell silent as he sent the communication before moving over to sit in the chair closest to Dr. Wells. To the surprise of both Caitlin and Cisco, Artemis then reached out and gently took Harrison's hand in his own. Neither human spoke, knowing that if either pointed out the very human act, Artemis would start debating his being with them. It was too deep a conversation for the time. Instead, they sat in silence, waiting.


	12. Chapter 12: The Gift

**Chapter 12: The Gift**

It was surprising to Cisco that he could be in a house full of people and feel completely alone. They had all shared a muted dinner together, Joe, Cisco, Caitlin, Hallow, Artemis, and Tina. Now, Cisco found himself in the gym, trying to chase away his feeling of total isolation. He was making a half-hearted attempt at working out, but at the moment he was just sitting on a weight bench feeling dejected.

"Are you feeling alright, Cisco?" Artemis asked after entering the weight room silently. It startled Cisco so that he fell back off of the weight bench to the floor. "Are you injured?"

"Artemis!" Cisco glowered at the younger man, embarrassment making him angrier. "Man, I'm putting a bell on you as well! Harrison used to sneak up on me all the time!"

"I apologize. I did not mean to surprise you," Artemis monotoned. He actually looked sorry, his bright blue eyes filled with sadness and perhaps confusion. Letting out a long sigh, Cisco got to his feet.

"What are you doing in here?" Cisco asked, realized that he was keeping his distance and had his arms crossed. Cocking his head to one side, Artemis seemed to take a moment to consider his answer.

"I am concerned for your well being," Artemis finally answered. "I am aware of the trouble you have had with your family in the past, and was wondering if I could help you in any way."

Snorting, Cisco rolled his eyes and shook his head. "No, I don't think there's anything a robot can do for me." Grumpily, he started to leave the room.

"I'm not a robot," came Artemis's quiet response. The words weren't what stopped Cisco. Something about the way they were said, though, caused Cisco to freeze. "I am sorry I interrupted you." Silently, the cyborg turned to go, his shoulders slumped.

"Wait," Cisco said, reaching out and catching the younger man on the shoulder. Stiffening, Artemis stopped, but didn't turn around. "I know you aren't a robot," Cisco continued. "I'm sorry." He watched the cyborg take a deep breath before turning to face him. To the engineer's shock, unshed tears glistened in the bright blue eyes.

"I brought you this." Swallowing what Cisco guessed was a lump of painful emotion, Artemis held out a small box. "Dad and I designed it. I only recently had a chance to construct it." He didn't look at Cisco while he spoke. The young engineer got a sense that Artemis was clinging to control of his human emotions.

"What is it?" Cisco asked as he opened the box and looked in at an odd looking watch.

"It contains the tools necessary to conceal your identity. Using your powers in front of Dad was not problematic, however, should you need to utilize them in a more public area, this will help protect you," Artemis explained. He started to leave, but Cisco stopped him with a hand to the shoulder once more.

"Artemis, wait," Cisco began, but then trailed off, uncertain what he wanted to say. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"I know. It is fine." Nodding once at Cisco, the cyborg then pulled away and left the room. Standing in the silent exercise room, Cisco eyed the watch before carefully putting it on. It was warm against his wrist and as he finished tightening the strap down, he swore it hummed briefly. Staring at the bright band on his skin, he decided more needed to be said. Taking a deep breath, he went in search of Artemis.

The lab was silent as Cisco exited the elevator and started looking around. He found the cyborg working silently on one of the many computers, the Chameleon suit laid out on a table next to him. "I'm guessing that Hartley doesn't have access to any cameras in here," Cisco said as he stared at the black suit. Artemis didn't answer, instead focusing on his work. Looking over his shoulder, Cisco frowned as he realized that the cyborg was working on an upgraded suit. "I thought Harrison didn't want anyone to use this now."

"I am able to use the suit without the problems of a human," Artemis answered.

"How? You are human," Cisco argued, wondering just how badly he had hurt the cyborg's growing feelings.

"The suit and this body were grown using similar technology," Artemis answered.

"Wait, what do you mean the suit was grown," Cisco demanded, going over to examine the one Artemis had laid out. "How could it give the user all those powers if it was organic?"

"It can do that because it is organic," Artemis answered. "Each power was isolated from a meta we have come into contact with. The organic compound acting as an insulator between the user and the suit is grown from cells donated by Carlton. The healing properties within it are not as strong as those generated by the meta-rosebush, but they still act to help speed the clotting of blood," Artemis explained.

"You got the teleportation from Shawna," Cisco guessed. Artemis nodded. "And I know I saw the suit go into metal form, which I'm guessing is from Tony, but where does the Chameleon aspect of it come from?"

"Judy," Artemis answered. "She has the ability to control her cells to the degree that she can naturally change her appearance to blend in with her surroundings."

"Wow. But, I know there's non-organic components to all this," Cisco pointed out.

"Correct. Ray Palmer shared his remote technology. In those situations where Dad's implant malfunctioned, or he lost consciousness, I was able to take control of the suit remotely, allowing me to get him to safety, in most situations."

"And you and Harrison figured out how to grow cells that would do all of that." Cisco marvelled at the marriage of technology and the organic.

"Correct. We built in locks so that the suit could not be removed without permission. Dad and I thought you might want to build something similar into Barry's suit." Talking about the suit seemed to put Artemis at ease, as he explained everything.

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Cisco agreed. He held out his wrist, brandishing the watch. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to show me how this works. That is, if you'll forgive me for being a dick and calling you a robot." Blinking a few times, Artemis stared for a long moment at Cisco. After several long seconds, a slow smile spread over his face and he nodded.

"Of course. I would be happy to show you." Stepping forwards, he started instructing Cisco in the use of the new toy.


	13. Chapter 13: Partners

_**Salutations! Welcome to another chapter. This one focuses on character development, so not much action. That said, I'm trying to get the other chapters edited and posted quickly, but I'm working on a number of other things as well. Please feel free to leave me suggestions or questions. I actually have a lot more than what I've written figured out. To all who have left me comments and reviews previously, big Thanks! I really appreciate it! Enjoy! - CT**_

 **Chapter 13: Partners**

While Cisco and Artemis worked downstairs, Joe and Hallow sat in the kitchen sharing a quiet cup of tea. After the team had regrouped, Artemis had warned them all to be careful about what they said in the common areas. The cyborg pointed out that due to Hartley's hearing loss, the Pied Piper might have learned how to read lips. The two police detectives were doing their best to appear as a simple couple, but Joe wasn't sure how to act around the other man.

"So," Hallow began, pausing to sip at his tea. "How exactly did you end up being friends with the man who blew a hole in Central City?" There was a long silence as Joe tried to decide how to respond. He wasn't certain he liked the way Hallow had referred to Harrison.

"I was always close with Barry. He and Iris were best friends growing up. Kid spent so much time in my house, I felt like he was my own," Joe began. "When Barry was struck by the lightening, he might as well have been my son. Iris and I watched him die over and over again until along came Harrison Wells, wheelchair and all. He convinced me to let him take Barry to S.T.A.R. labs. They stabilized the kid which allowed his body to heal." He shrugged and sipped at his own tea.

"So, what, you just bonded over Barry's body?" Hallow arched an eyebrow.

"You trying to get a rise out of me?" Joe frowned angrily at the other man.

"Maybe," Hallow replied. "Good to know what you value." He watched Joe carefully as he slurped at his tea.

"What I value is my friendship with Harrison Wells. He's saved Barry, Cisco, Caitlin, Iris, and me more times than I'd like to count. Through it all, he never asked for much. I'd recommend you get to know the man before you pass judgement." Joe gave the man a stern look.

"I'll do my best," Hallow agreed. "A man who inspires the dedication and loyalty of so many others is of great interest to me."

"Yeah? Why is that?" Joe studied the other man. Now dressed in sweatpants and a Marines tee shirt, Hallow looked oddly at home in Harrison's kitchen, his silver hair shining in the bright lights.

Hallow shrugged. "Strong leaders can make or break a city. What kind of man is Harrison?"

"The best. Loyal, smart, kind, loving." Joe shook his head, uncertain what else he could say.

"Maybe you should be dating him instead of me." The statement was dry, devoid of amusement. It made Joe narrow his eyes and intently study the silver haired man across from him. "A joke," Hallow clarified, reaching out and running a finger over the hand Joe had resting on the table. "I'm afraid I'm not certain how to behave. I mean, clearly Harrison is important to you, but I know nothing about him. You never talk about him."

"I don't?" Joe looked surprised as he realized that Hallow was right. "Well, that might be because some of our adventures are a bit hard to swallow."

"Yeah? I understand that Wells and his team are knee deep in helping us take on the meta-humans. From what I've seen, looks like maybe they've been at it for a bit longer without the police." He cocked his head to one side, his bright blue eyes focused on Joe. They weren't as bright as Harrison's, those blue eyes, but there was something about the way they took everything in as Hallow gazed across the table at Joe.

"Maybe," Joe answered noncommittally. "I just wish he'd wake up soon. Caitlin says his body is slowly starting to heal, but we don't know what condition his mind is in. There was so much damage." Sighing, Joe dropped his head into his hand. To his shock, Hallow stood and came around the table to sit next to him. Letting their legs touch, the other man rubbed a hand on Joe's back and then leaned in to drape his arm across Joe's shoulders.

"With friends like you and the others here," Hallow began, letting his head rest against Joe's in a very intimate way. "I'm certain that Harrison will be okay." Joe took a deep breath and let it out, nodding his head against the other man's. If Hartley hadn't known what the two men were supposed to be, this little show should help clarify any questions.

"Thanks. You know the really dumb thing? Harrison blamed everything that went wrong on himself. Fool thought he'd brought nothing but misery to this city," Joe answered softly. Smiling gently at him, Hallow kissed him briefly on the lips before standing and taking Joe's hand.

"I'll help you convince him otherwise when he wakes up. For now, let's head to bed," Hallow said, tugging gently on Joe's hand. Clinging to the other man, Joe allowed himself to be pulled to his feet and led down the hallway. Once they were in the bedroom they were sharing, they pulled apart.

"Damn man," Joe marveled, shaking himself. "You are good."

"And you," Hallow agreed. He went over to the sleeping bag he'd spread on the floor earlier. "You okay? Felt like that wasn't all just a show."

"Because it wasn't," Joe agreed. "Everything I told you about Harrison is true. He's my best friend and I've been trying really hard to be a rock for him, but." He shrugged and sunk down onto the bed. "Sorry. Didn't mean to dump that stuff on you."

"West, you've lost two partners in less than two years. Close partners. Your daughter has been through the ringer, nearly losing her best friend, and actually losing her fiance. I understand. Let the emotions out. Trust me, holding them is no damn good." Apparently finished speaking, Hallow settled down on the sleeping bag and seemed to be asleep almost instantly. For a long moment, Joe studied the other man. Clearly Hallow had been speaking from experience. Knowing that for now, at least, the subject was closed, Joe settled into the bed and tried not to think about his comatose friend in the other room.


	14. Chapter 14: Breakthrough

_**Greetings folks! Sorry for the delay in posting this chapter. I've been doing some serious reworking of this story so I've been slowed down. That said, I am going to confess right now that I love Quantum Leap and that if you're a fan, you might be reminded of scene from the first episode Sam leaps into a female. If you are a female, please don't get offended. My beta didn't seem to be bothered by it. Oh, incidentally, big thanks to my semi-dead beta DoctorHarrisonWells for helping me! out with this chapter. So many miss-placed commas... so sorry. As always, reviews, comments, and requests welcomed! All have reviewed previously, huge thanks. You've kept me going when I've been tempted to drop this story because I felt it wasn't working... feeling good about it now... - CT**_

 **Chapter 14: Breakthrough**

Tina was stretched out next to Harrison. After watching his recordings, she'd given them some thought and come to a number of conclusions. One was that she wasn't going to let him die. This Harrison Wells appeared to be worth saving, and she intended to do just that. She had decided the vision about the lab accident Harrison and Tina had been in during their younger years had meant more than she'd thought. That was why she'd opted to share the bed with the comatose man.

Sitting up at the sound of Artemis, and then Cisco, quietly coming through, she watched them each head to the walk-in closet. She didn't bother saying anything to them, because she could tell from the way Artemis was carrying himself that something had upset him. Odd that the man who was the least comfortable with his body was the easiest for her to read. She listened to the elevator open and close twice, first for Artemis and then for Cisco. After several minutes of silence, she turned her attention to the man in the bed with her. "Alright, Harrison," she began. "You didn't show Cisco that mind reading lab accident just to get him to ask for my help. That's why I can enter your dreams. Isn't it? That accident linked us somehow. Come on now. I'm trying to help. Let me." She studied his face, glanced at his vitals, and then reached out and took his hand.

 _All their friends claimed it was weird. For Tina, Tess, and Harrison, it worked. The trio had been sharing a house on the edge of the city since they had all started working at the lab together. Tina had been worried about living with the couple, but in the year they had shared the house, she had enjoyed herself immensely. Harrison and Tess made every effort to be conscientious housemates and there had been only a few minor incidents. Today was a bit odd._

 _Usually when Tina and Tess declared a lazy day, Harrison would laugh at them and go out. Today was different. Instead of practically running out the door, Harrison had plopped down on the couch between the two women and declared his intentions to stay there. Maybe it was his injuries. When Tina's mind reading equipment had exploded Harrison had ended up with a concussion, two broken fingers, a cracked rib, a two inch laceration to his thigh, and a number of minor contusions and lacerations. For the first 24 hours, the concussion had made him difficult to understand, and there had been some concern about brain damage. Now, four days later, his speech was fine, but he seemed subdued._

" _Are you sure you want to spend the entire day vegging on the couch watching girly movies with us?" Tess asked, eyeing her unusually quiet boyfriend._

" _Yep," Harrison replied. Tina watched the vision of the memory unfold, struggling to take control, to communicate._

" _You sure your doctor gave you a good bill of health?" Tess questioned, the vision continuing unchanged from the memory. "You haven't been completely yourself lately."_

" _Yeah, I'm okay," Harrison countered, looking mildly annoyed. "I just want to curl up on the couch, watch a movie, drink some tea, and eat some chocolate covered pretzels." Harrison shrugged, motioning at the television when he mentioned the movie._

" _Are you taking the piss?" Tina demanded angrily. They all knew that the activities he had just described was practically a ritual for Tina when her period hit each month._

" _No. I'm not feeling a hundred percent and thought it sounded like a good way to spend a miserable day!" Harrison looked hurt and angry, and the Tina experiencing the vision could feel both along with irritation and frustration. Studying him, memory Tina nodded._

" _I'll go make the tea," she said, standing. "Peppermint okay with everyone?" At least with Harrison joining in this month, Tina wouldn't have to deal with his teasing._

" _Sounds marvelous," Tess agreed, watching her boyfriend in concern. No longer the complete center of attention, Harrison had tucked his legs up and was resting his head on the back of the couch. If he had been a woman, Tina would have simply diagnosed cramps accompanying the monthly cycle. Since it was Harrison, Tina could only assume he was in more pain than he was trying to let on about from his injuries._

" _Harrison!" Tina managed to make herself say. Frowning, he looked up and a brief look of confusion clouded his eyes and furrowed his brow._

Tina lurched back as the vision ended abruptly. "Damnit," she hissed, smacking the pillow next to her. She had been so close. "Come on Harrison. According to your Mr. Ramon, I shouldn't be able to do this without him. He's clearly wrong and I know that you heard me in there. Let me in, Harrison. Let me in or I shall drag you into my life the way you pulled me into yours!" Still angry with him, she reached out and tightly took his hand in hers.

 _Tina McGee stared in utter horror at her belongings piled up just outside the building she lived in with her boyfriend. As if her day hadn't been miserable enough, she'd come home to discover that apparently Clint, who she had been with for two years, had decided it was time for her to move out. At least she hadn't accumulated that much stuff in the two years she'd been studying in the states. Fighting back tears, she stepped up and started gathering the most vital belongings, happy that nobody had taken anything._

" _Need some help?" The voice was soft and gentle, and vaguely familiar. Looking up, Tina frowned at the beach bum she'd seen at the library the day before. Now he had his shoulder length hair pulled back into a ponytail and wore hospital scrubs._

" _What?" Tina blinked, tears falling despite her best efforts._

" _Getting your stuff. I can give you a lift. My car is just over there." He pointed at a battered blue Toyota._

" _I don't want to be any trouble," Tina countered._

" _No trouble. Come on." Smiling brightly at her, he stepped up and picked up an overstuffed suitcase, handling it with great care. "I'll even treat you to dinner." Without waiting for an answer, he headed towards his car. After a moment, Tina collected a few more things and numbly followed after him._

" _You really don't have to do this," Tina said as they reached the car, and he started packing her things neatly into the trunk._

" _I know," he answered before heading back to the pile. "I want to." He flashed another grin at her, carefully collecting more of her things._

" _Why?"_

" _You look like you could use a friend," he answered with a shrug. "I'm Harrison." Pausing, he offered her a calloused hand._

" _Christina McGee," Tina answered, taking the hand._

" _Nice to meet you, Chrissy," he said as they shook. Grinning, he went and got more of her things. "You have another place to stay?"_

" _Not yet, and it's Tina, if you must shorten it," she said, following him back. There was just one bag left which he lifted easily. "Look, I'll accept the offer for dinner, but then I'll have to look for a new place to live."_

" _No problem. Come on." Flashing that grin at her, he opened the passenger door and put the last bag in the trunk while she got into the car. "You okay with pizza?" He asked as he climbed into the driver's seat._

" _Yes, that'd be fine," Tina agreed. She studied him as he drove, her attention momentarily torn from her own woes. This time, his hair was neatly tamed, pulled back into a tight ponytail, and his face cleanly scrubbed. There was no sign of sand, and his clothing looked like he'd just taken it out of the wash._

" _You lucked out. I let my friend take my shift tonight. She wanted hours," he said calmly as he drove. They were headed towards the beach, which didn't surprise Tina._

" _Your shift where?"_

" _At the hospital," Harrison answered._

" _You're an orderly?" She had a hard time imagining him as anything more._

" _Nope," he answered simply._

" _What then?" Instead of answering, he just shrugged. Tina fell silent, studying him. "How did you know that I was doing that problem wrong?"_

" _Winchester gave that to us last year," Harrison answered. "I'm working on a pHD in physics."_

" _Alright, but according to Winchester only some genius student has ever gotten that problem right. Some off the charts brilliant nutter named Wells."_

" _Brilliant nutter," he repeated, mimicking her accent. "Thanks, I think. My gran would probably agree with you there." Tina felt herself flush with embarrassment._

" _You're Wells?"_

" _So my grandparents claimed, and it says on my birth certificate," he agreed. He pulled the car up next to a surfboard shop. "Come on." Turning the engine off, he hopped out of the car with Tina following as he headed up a flight of stairs._

" _I'm sorry," Tina said as she followed him inside. He flicked on the lights and headed into a small kitchen where he got out some plates and pulled a pizza box out of the fridge._

" _No problem," he replied with a shrug. "Pepperoni?" Tina shook her head and watched as he pulled a slice of cheese pizza and started to reheat it. "Sorry it's just left overs."_

" _It's marvelous, really," Tina informed him. Compared to what she had been looking at her night being, it truly was. "Thank you. I appreciate it." They ate silently until Tina glanced at her watch. "I need to get going," she finally decided. "I still have to find someplace."_

" _Yeah?" His eyes were dancing in amusement at a thought he had._

" _Yes."_

" _You can stay here," he offered._

" _I'm not sleeping with you," Tina replied, saddened that things were turning out this way._

" _No. You're not," he agreed, going to one of the doors off the main living area and throwing it open. "But, I could use a flatmate for this second bedroom," he explained. Blinking, Tina stood and went to glance into the room as he casually leaned against the wall._

" _Harrison," Tina said, looking at him seriously. "You need to wake up."_

" _Huh?" Surprise and shock painted his face, his blue eyes going wide and his eyebrows climbing up. Confused, he pushed off the wall to stand straight._

" _You were injured testing a prototype. You need to wake up," Tina repeated. Her voice was older._

" _Injured?" He frowned at her. This wasn't right. This wasn't how it went._

" _You were shot. You've been in a coma for nearly eight weeks. You have to wake up. Your friends need you." There was an urgency to her voice. Pain flared in his chest._

" _Friends?" Gasping, he fell back against the wall, clutching at the pain._

" _Caitlin Snow, Cisco Ramon, Joe West, Barry Allen, and me," Tina agreed. "Your sons need you."_

" _Sons?" He was blinking rapidly, trying to focus past the pain._

" _Rupert and Artemis," Tina answered. Reaching out, she stroked his face. "Please, wake up." Crying out, he dropped to the floor. "You have to wake up. I've done everything I can to help your body heal. You have to finish it. Wake up and finish this." A bellow of pain forced past his lips, shaking the memory._


	15. Chapter 15 - Lost

_**Greetings folks! Sorry for the long delay. i had both my betas comment that I transitioned the story a bit poorly and have been reworking it. That said, a few words. If you've seen "Back to Normal" one of the terms in here may sound familiar. Myostatin is a protein produced by the body that basically breaks down muscles. Now, in animals (and one human case) a rare mutation can make it so the body doesn't produce myostatin. It results in insane muscle building. Seriously, look up myostatin muscle hypertrophy. That means that Gray should have been huge if his body wasn't producing myostatin. Not just super strong. He'd be physically more muscular, stronger, faster, and need to eat, a lot. That said, I knew about this before the episode... yeah, I'm that kind of a geek. Once more, sorry for the delay. As always, comments welcomed! Thanks! - CT**_

 **Chapter 15: Lost**

The house was silent when Joe woke up. Sighing, he rolled onto his side and stared at the floor where Hallow had slept. To his surprise, the other man was nowhere in sight. How had the other detective managed to get up without waking Joe? Throwing back the covers, Joe got out of the bed and quietly headed to the door. In the hallway he looked both ways, seeing light spilling into the hall from Harrison's room. Wondering if anything was wrong, Joe quickly padded down the hallway and into the room. To his surprise, Hallow was sitting next to the bed with his hand tucked into one of Harrison's. A floorboard squeaked and the silver-haired man looked up at Joe.

"Morning," Hallow said softly. Putting Harrison's hand down, he stood. Still in his sweatpants and tee, the man shifted over so that Joe could take the seat closest to Harrison.

"Morning," Joe greeted. He glanced to the other side of the bed where Artemis was checking one of the many machines monitoring Harrison. "Didn't expect to find you in here," he continued, turning his attention back to Hallow.

"I didn't think you'd want him to be alone, but you clearly need to sleep," Hallow answered. Joe studied the man pretending to be his boyfriend. Something was different.

"What happened?" Joe asked, looking over at Artemis.

"He coded," Artemis answered simply. At the clinical way the cyborg provided the information, Hallow frowned, looking upset.

"Dr. McGee said it was almost like Harrison was reliving the initial trauma," the other detective explained. He shot a look over at Artemis. "Dr. Snow and Dr. Wells managed to get him stabilized again, but I thought you'd want someone sitting with him." Once more Hallow shot a look over at Artemis. The younger man seemed unaware of the glower, going about checking Harrison's vitals.

"Damn. That doesn't sound good," Joe said, slowly sitting. "Artemis, what caused it?"

"I am uncertain," the cyborg answered without looking up from his work. "However, it would appear that Dad was dreaming when something in the dream triggered a seizure, followed by his vitals dropping out."

"He hasn't had seizures since you took out that damn implant," Joe said, worry furrowing his brow.

"You are correct. Interestingly, since Dr. McGee, Dr. Snow, and I were able to stabilize Dad, his brain has become more active," Artemis declared. "Not only has it become more active, it has stayed active."

"So, you're saying he isn't brain dead any more?" Joe was struggling to keep his hopes down.

"I'm saying that his brain is staying active. In fact, the activity appears to be slowly increasing. I can now tell you when he is dreaming and when his mind is in a resting state," Artemis explained.

"That's good, right?" Hallow asked. While he'd not been present from the start, he had a vested interest in helping Harrison recover.

"Yes. However, his body is still slow to recover, and he has lost a great deal of his muscle mass due to the coma," Artemis explained. "The longer he is inactive, the longer it will take him to recover if he awakens. Caitlin and I have been doing range of motion exercise with him which will help should he regain consciousness. They will not prevent a loss of muscle mass, though."

"Is there anything you can do to prevent his muscles from atrophying?" Hallow asked, surprising Joe.

"I have discussed it with Caitlin. Currently she is in the lab attempting to create a myostatin blocker," Artemis explained.

"Artemis, english please," Joe requested.

"Myostatin is the protein which acts on muscles, breaking them down. If we can create a myostatin blocker or inhibitor and administer it to Dad, his muscles should begin to rebuild," Artemis explained.

"Will that help him wake up?" Joe asked.

"No. It will only help his body recuperate from the prolonged coma," Artemis answered.

"Well, I guess at least it's something," Joe mused, his stomach gurgling noisily.

"I'll go make us some breakfast," Hallow declared, heading for the door. Before Joe could respond, the other detective was gone. Finished looking over the readouts, Artemis headed to the lift on his way to the basement lab.

A few minutes later, Hallow returned with a plate of eggs, 2 pieces of toast, and a bowl of fruit. "Here. You start eating. I'll go get some coffee," Hallow ordered as he gave Joe the plate. Blinking at the plate of food, Joe just nodded numbly. He stared at the food, as he held Harrison's hand.

"You should eat," Hallow suggested when he returned. He had a plate of food for himself and two mugs of coffee. "Here. I hope I got it right." Handing off one of the cups, Hallow sat down next to Joe. "Eat." He ordered.

"Right," Joe agreed, blinking to chase the last remnants of sleep from his eyes. "Thank you for the food. You didn't have to do this." Without hesitating, Joe took a mouthful of eggs from his fork. Eyes going wide, he looked to Hallow who was sipping his coffee.

"You don't need to look so surprised," Hallow informed Joe. "My Pop ran a diner. Taught me how to cook." He turned his attention to the room and to Harrison. "Where did Dr. Wells go?"

"Artemis, man. Just call him Artemis," Joe corrected. "He went downstairs to the lab."

"There's a lab downstairs? I didn't see any stairs." Hallow frowned, looking around the room. "Maybe you should give me a tour today. I need to know the layout if I am going to provide protection." His sharp eyes seemed to take in all the details of the room.

"Yeah, okay. Once Cisco or Barry is up and willing to sit with Harrison, I'll give you the grand tour," Joe agreed. "Things seem pretty slow." They fell silent as they ate, Hallow finishing before Joe.

Realizing that Joe was still eating, Hallow stood and walked around the room. "Is this Artemis?" The silver-haired detective was gazing at a photo on Harrison's desk. In the image, Harrison laughed as he held a giggling infant on his lap.

"Rupert," Joe answered, not even looking at the photograph. "Harrison's youngest. Judy had been bringing him to visit every day but they're keeping their distance now that Harrison is bait."

"Judy is his girlfriend?" Hallow was studying the photograph intently. It had been taken outside in a beautiful garden with a rosebush in the background.

"He and Judy were a one night stand made into a forever friendship courtesy of Rupert," Joe answered with a smirk. Finished eating, he stood and went over to look at the photograph. "Judy's brother had just died and Harrison had just been handed the findings from the investigation. Guess they both needed comfort and met each other at just the right time." He smiled sadly at the matching grins Harrison and the infant wore in the picture

"That has to be weird," Hallow mused. "Having a kid with someone you don't know."

"They seem to be making it work. Rather, they had been. Harrison loves Rupert and so does Judy. Gives them common ground. Plus, Harrison has been very careful to do whatever Judy needs of him. Think he told me he was just happy to be in the kid's life."

"I would just be happy to still be able to have sex if I were him," Hallow admitted, pulling a laugh from Joe. "What? You can't tell me that wouldn't be your concern if you ended up paraplegic."

"It was, but not my biggest," Joe admitted. Hallow frowned in confusion. "You forget, I spent several months in a wheelchair recovering after Hartley attacked Harrison. I didn't know if I was ever going to walk away from that chair."

"Oh, right. Can't imagine what you must have gone through." There was a pause as Joe nodded, uncertain what to say. Suddenly looking confused and distracted, Hallow continued, "Sorry, but is that the same rosebush?" He pointed at the one in the picture and then to Carlton in the planter.

"Yep," was all Joe said. The door opened and Barry entered with a grumpy looking Cisco. "Hey, has Artemis updated you guys?"

"You mean about the seizures and brain activity?" Barry asked, moving to sit. Joe nodded and went to collect the dishes.

"Yep. He told us," Cisco said with a sigh. "Sounds like Harrison is getting worse."

"Artemis seemed to think it was a good thing," Hallow informed him. "If one of you two would be willing to sit with Harrison, I've asked Joe to show me the grounds."

"Yeah, we'll definitely sit with him," Barry piped up. He was already leaning forwards and holding Harrison's hand. Hallow's eyes flicked to the clasped hands and then back up.

"Thanks, we shouldn't be long, Bar," Joe said. "Come on, Hallow. I'll show you the outside first." As they headed for the door, Hallow took Joe's hand in his own.

"Call me Lee," he requested. Together, the two men left the room.

"Do your thing," Barry commanded of Cisco once the two detectives were gone. Cisco arched an eyebrow at him.

"We so have to come up with a better name for it," Cisco complained. Shaking his head, he reached out. "Alright Harrison, talk to me. Barry is here with me and we're really worried about you because you coded this morning and had a seizure." Taking a deep breath, he reached out and took Harrison's free hand.

"Come on Cisco, stop playing," Barry urged after waiting a moment.

"I'm not! It isn't working!" Looking nervous, Cisco tried again, grasping Harrison's hand even harder. They both waited quietly for a minute, Cisco's eyes squeezed shut. Eventually he cracked open first one eye and then the other. "I'm sorry, Barry. It's like Harrison isn't there any more."

"But his brain is more active," Barry argued.

"No luck man," Cisco replied, shaking his head. "It's like he's an empty shell. I've lost him." Feeling horrified and sick to his stomach, Cisco sank into a chair. "He's lost to us." Rubbing a hand on his friend's shoulder, Barry tried to stay positive.

"No man. You both just need a break. We'll try again later. Let's just be here for him," Barry assured him. Nodding his agreement, Cisco leaned back in the chair and pulled out a book.

"I had been reading to him. Stuff I know he doesn't like in the hopes it would piss him off enough to get him to wake up," Cisco said as he paged through the book. "Wanna take turns on the chapters?"

"Sure," Barry agreed with a grin, watching Harrison's face as Cisco began to read.


	16. Chapter 16 - Intruder

**Chapter 16: Intruder**

Joe led the way around the house to the back yard and garden. He could tell that Hallow wanted to talk to him about something, but it seemed the other detective wasn't sure how to broach the subject. They had started at the front of the house and worked their way around to the basketball court. Their clasped hands were becoming sweaty as Joe led his "boyfriend" back to the roses. "This is the garden. Harrison has kept most of it up on his own, but Artemis has been helping since he got here," Joe explained.

"Wow," Hallow whistled appreciatively. "Impressive." They paused and separated while Joe went to check the lock on the back fence. "Joe," Hallow began, looking around nervously. "Do you think all metas are dangerous?" Coming back to stand next to him, Joe frowned.

"I believe anyone can be dangerous. What do you mean?"

"Seems like the only good meta out there is the Flash. Do you think all other metas are bad?" Hallow seemed to have trouble meeting Joe's gaze.

"I think people are capable of doing bad things, including metas. I don't know that I believe in bad or evil men necessarily," Joe admitted. "Why do you ask?"

"I heard about the meta-human taskforce you proposed to Captain Singh," Hallow informed him.

Joe nodded, wondering where the discussion was leading. "I have the S.T.A.R. labs crew onboard for science support, but nobody in the department has shown any interest in joining the taskforce."

"I heard. Everything you've been through, and you don't think metas are evil?" Hallow looked surprised.

"Nope. I'll be honest with you, I know a few good metas," Joe answered with a shrug. It made Hallow snort with laughter.

"Sounds like a bad movie," the silver-haired detective informed Joe. It earned him a smile, which flitted from Joe's face as his phone rang. Taking it out, Joe sighed and stepped away as he answered.

"Hey baby, what's up?" Joe glanced at Hallow as he waited for his daughter to respond.

"He's alive, Dad," came Iris's rushed response.

"What? Who is?" Joe glanced back towards the house, thinking that if Harrison had woken up somebody would have just come out to get them.

"Mason!" Iris exclaimed. Joe could understand her shock. In their timeline Mason Bridge had gone missing shortly after telling Iris he was going to expose Harrison Wells. Later, Eobard had confessed to Joe that he'd killed the reporter. "I came in this morning and there were bags on his desk. Then I got called into the editor's office and Mason was just sitting there waiting for me!"

"Okay, calm down," Joe ordered. "It makes perfect sense," he assured her.

"I know, but Dad, Mason thinks I'm hiding a story! He's investigating Harrison!" Iris was at a loss, uncertain what to do. "He left here like ten minutes ago saying he was going to do some digging."

"Alright. Look, Artemis is here with us, I'll talk to him and see if he knows anything," Joe assured her. "Lee, Detective Hallow as you know him, and I are out in the garden at the moment." He looked around them, wondering if Mason would come to the house.

"Okay, Daddy. Be careful. Mason Bridge is tenacious when he's chasing a story," Iris warned.

"Right. Will do. You be careful as well. Make sure your police escort is there but discrete," Joe lectured.

"Do you really think that Hartley would come after me?" Iris hated having police officers floating around her. She could take care of herself.

"I'm not taking any chances. He put me in a wheelchair, honey," Joe reminded her. "Hallow, I mean, Lee and I are headed back inside. I'll talk to you later."

"Okay. Love you," Iris paused, waiting for his response.

"Love you too. Bye." Joe ended the call and returned the phone to his pocket. "That was Iris. Mason Bridge is apparently trying to dig up dirt on Harrison."

"Good luck to him. Trust me, he won't find much," Hallow said as he and Joe turned and headed back to the house. At an odd look from Joe, the man shrugged. "What? I did some research. I wanted to know as much as possible about the man I was going to put on my hook."

"Harrison is your bait for Hartley, I get it. Still, I think you're taking this fishing analogy a little too far," Joe mused.

"Whatever. My point is that Bridge won't find anything. I don't care what kind of sources he has. Of course, that doesn't mean he won't be a pain in our butts." Joe bit his tongue, holding back a retort that would probably get him in trouble. Cisco, or somebody was rubbing off on him in a bad way. "Get your mind out of the gutter," Hallow countered, smirking at the look on Joe's face.

"What does it say that yours is right there with mine?" Joe grinned, really grinned. Despite his reservations about Hallow, he found that he was starting to like the man. They made it back to the house, heading in through the pool. "This is the pool. It's heated in the winter and the ceiling retracts when the weather is nice," Joe supplied.

"Damn. Must be nice to be rich," Hallow said, looking around as they walked through.

"Yeah. Harrison has no problems sharing though," Joe agreed. They were almost into the house when Artemis exited, Barry, Cisco, and Caitlin following.

"Ah, Detectives," Artemis greeted them. "I was coming to inform you that somebody has tripped the security alarms in the left side of the garden."

"Okay. Joe, you stay here with the others, and I'll go check it out," Hallow ordered.

"Oh no you don't," Joe answered, shaking his head. "I'm not letting my boyfriend run off to be the hero without me."

"We will be fine. I am more than capable of providing protection to the rest of us," Artemis answered. "I am confident that Barry and Cisco are also able to fend off any intruders."

"Come on, they'll be fine," Joe assured Hallow. Pulling the other man away from the younger adults, Joe led the way towards the left portion of the garden. Both men drew their guns, which they had thankfully thought to retrieve before taking their tour of the house. Ahead of them, a twig snapped and they paused, Joe communicating with his hands that he would go ahead and Hallow was to loop around.

The two men went separate ways and found Mason Bridge sneaking along the side wall. "Going somewhere?" Joe asked, gun leveled at the ground as he stepped out so that the man nearly ran into him.

"Gah!" Mason screamed shrilly and jumped several feet into the air. Laughter sounded as Hallow stepped into view, struggling to contain his mirth.

"He must have jumped like two feet!" Hallow said around his chuckiling. Despite the volcanic laughter shaking his chest, he managed to keep his weapon leveled at Mason. "Who the hell is this guy?"

"Mason Bridge!" Mason said, looking indignant. He seemed to find it hard to believe somebody didn't know who he was.

"Friend of Harrison's?" Hallow asked, looking to Joe.

"Nope. Nosy reporter," Joe answered. "Trespassing, nosy reporter."

"Hey, the public has a right to know what Harrison Wells is getting up to right now," Mason shot back. "You don't really expect them to believe that he's in a coma, do you? The man who blasted a hole in Central City, dying because he was being heroic when Goldenboy attacked; not likely."

"Do you even know him?" Hallow asked, grabbing Mason just above the left elbow.

"I've followed him enough to know who he is," Mason retorted.

"Come on. Let's get him out of here," Joe said, rolling his eyes in annoyance. "Tell your editor that if he wants information on Harrison's condition he can ask Iris to ask me, and I might consider passing something along." They headed to the gate, Joe opening it and shoving Mason out.

"I will find out what's going on in there," Mason cried out.

"Joe!" Cisco's shout carried from the patio. "Joe, he's having another seizure!"

"Is he talking about Wells?" Mason asked, taking a step forwards.

"None of your business," Hallow answered, slamming the gate on Mason's face and motioning for Joe to go back to the house. "Come on, let's go." He wasn't surprised when Joe actually broke into a jog.

By the time they got back to the house, the excitement had died down. Cisco and Barry stood in the hallway of Harrison's room. When Joe and Hallow paused in front of the two younger men, Cisco wordlessly pointed into the room. Slowly, Joe entered with his "boyfriend" following after.

They had dragged Harrison to the floor. Bedsheets had tangled around his paralyzed legs and Caitlin was kneeling next to him checking for a pulse. Artemis was on the other side, an automated external defibrillator set up and hooked up to Harrison. "I have a pulse," Caitlin informed Artemis as Joe leaned heavily against the wall. "I guess those shocks did the trick." Her shoulders sagging, Caitlin leaned back, clearly feeling the emotional strain taking care of Harrison had caused her. Now that she didn't need the adrenaline, her body started to shake and tears built up in her eyes to slide down her cheek.

Hallow stepped back as he watched Caitlin flee into Joe's arms. "We're losing him, aren't we?" Joe muttered as tears fell from his own eyes and he clung to Caitlin. His eyes were locked on the floor, where Artemis was working to ensure that Harrison remained stable. While the comatose man had coded previously, this was the first time the two doctors had resorted to doing compressions or using the AED. Usually, they just had to adjust the oxygen flow or do ventilations. The fact that Harrison had apparently dropped out even more worried Joe deeply.

"We're trying not to, Joe," Caitlin sobbed into his shoulders. As Hallow watched, Barry and Cisco slowly entered the room and joined Joe and Caitlin in the hug. Blue eyes narrowed as Hallow studied the quartet hugging tightly. Artemis was the outsider to the group, but it was clear the display of emotion didn't bother him. Oddly enough, his lack of emotion didn't seem to upset the others either. Letting out a sigh, Hallow took another step back, trying to give the group their privacy. When the hug continued, tears flowing from everyone's eyes save Hallow's and Artemis's, the silver-haired detective slipped from the room and into the kitchen.

In the kitchen, he set about making tea for everyone, searching through the cupboards. He paused as he studied the adaptations that had been put in to make everything accessible for Harrison. He didn't know Harrison Wells or anyone in the group, but he knew what people said about Joe. From what Hallow had heard, Joe West was about the greatest guy around. He'd always been there for Barry Allen, a weird, but nice enough kid. West was a dedicated single father, and he was respected by all who worked with him. Finding a coffee cup with "Greatest Dad" scrawled across it, he pulled it out and set it aside. He considered using it, but thought it might upset whoever had given it to Wells, Artemis, probably. Instead he found a set of six S.T.A.R. labs mugs and decided to use them.

When Joe padded into the kitchen, fresh tears in his eyes after Cisco had told them all about losing his connection with Harrison, he was a little surprised to see Hallow pouring hot water into coffee cups. Even more surprising was when Hallow looked up to see Joe and immediately came over and gave him a large, bone crushing hug. As they pulled apart, Hallow took Joe's face in his hands and studied him intently. "You okay?" Hallow asked softly, hearing the others shuffle into the room.

"Yeah," Joe agreed. Reaching up, he took the hands in his own and pulled them down, giving them a gentle squeeze. Odd how his fake boyfriend knew what he needed. "Caitlin is administering some more of Dr. McGee's serum as well as trying the myostatin blocker she developed." He took a shaky breath. "I'm sorry, about that back there."

"Don't worry about it," Hallow said, stepping closer so that he and Joe were mere inches apart. "I'm here for you. Whatever you need."

"I need Harrison to wake up and tell me he's fine," Joe admitted. "I need my best friend back. Somehow, I don't think there's much you can do for me." Letting go of Joe's hands, Hallow pulled him in for a brief kiss and hug. "You sit down and drink your tea." He glanced over Joe's shoulder at the rest of the group. They had all come out, Artemis and Caitlin straggling into the kitchen looking at something on a tablet. "All of you. I will go sit with Harrison." He locked eyes with them and then turned and headed down the hallway.

He paused at the doorway, but after a breath stepped into the room. Shutting the door behind himself, Hallow moved to sit down next to the bed. Once more Harrison occupied one side, the instruments monitoring his vitals, as well as oxygen tubing snaking across his face. It was good that he was breathing on his own. The IV was flowing steadily, and Hallow just sat and watched for several long minutes.

"You know," he began. "I thought I would hate you." He leaned forwards, studying the man in the bed. "I blamed a lot on you, but if I know nothing else, it is that you should judge people by their actions and how their loved ones behave towards them." Letting out a sigh, he leaned back. Standing, he paced over to the desk and stared at the photo of Harrison and Rupert. "These people love you," he stated, glancing back at the man in the bed. "They seem to think the world of you. Everyone here cares deeply for you, and that's not including Dr. McGee, Rupert, and his mother. A one night stand wouldn't bring your son here to see you every day."

Wandering back to the bed, Hallow dropped down into the chair again. This time he reached out and took Harrison's hand. "Joe says you are a good man. A hero from the way he talks. This world needs more good men in it. I think you need to stick around for a while." He fell silent, holding the hand as warmth built and then slowly dissipated. At the window, the rosebush swayed in a breeze, but Hallow didn't notice.


	17. Chapter 17: Training

_**Another chapter of mostly character development. Thanks to everyone who has stuck with me and is still reading. I always appreciate your feedback and input. Thanks again! -CT**_

 **Chapter 17: Training**

It had been months since Cisco had liked the merged timeline. It had been weird at first, but as he'd become more confident in Harrison's true identity, the young engineer had started to really like it. Harrison had proven that he was a good friend, and Cisco had come to enjoy spending time with him. Everything had changed after Hartley attacked Harrison. The team had become suspicious of Harrison and turned on the older scientist. Cisco came to hate himself for what he'd allowed to happen to his friend and boss. The older man saved the city, and nobody knew it. Yes, it had been Cisco's power, but without Harrison's encouragement, Cisco wouldn't have even been willing to try. When he had finally come clean and showed them all his power, he'd felt a little sliver of hope. Eventually, they had discovered Harrison was the Chameleon, and not a bad guy. Of course, then they'd realized just how badly the older man had hurt himself trying to fix everything. Now, Cisco felt like they were just waiting for their friend to die.

All of that made this world crappy enough, with his friends all hating themselves and fighting with each other. To add to it, things had changed, and he and Dante no longer got along. Cisco had been trying to repair their relationship, but it was difficult. His stubborn brother was resistant, and his parents still didn't understand what Cisco did for a living. They tried, a little, but family life was still painfully awkward for the young man. Today wasn't any better.

After watching Harrison nearly die, Cisco had found his way to his parent's house. There he'd tried to talk to Dante, only to get in a fight which ended with Cisco sporting a painful black eye. His mother, of course, blamed the fight on Cisco and kicked him out. So, with his eye nearly swollen shut and his police officer shadowing him to protect against Hartley, Cisco returned to Harrison's house.

"Greetings Cisco," Artemis said as the young engineer entered Harrison's bedroom. The room was empty.

"Where is everyone?" Cisco looked around, thankful that he at least still had Barry, Caitlin, and Joe. He was still getting used to Artemis.

"Joe and Detective Hallow are patrolling the grounds, Caitlin is downstairs reviewing the latest set of data we've collected from the sensors, and Barry is running on the treadmill in the lab. You have been injured," Artemis frowned upon seeing Cisco's black eye.

"Yeah, Dante took offense to me trying to talk to him," Cisco complained.

"Come. We should apply ice to help reduce the swelling," Artemis declared. He stood and strode out of the room. Cisco paused at the door for a moment, wondering when a cyborg had come to worry about him more than his own family. Sighing, he followed and found Artemis in the kitchen.

"Thanks," Cisco said as Artemis retrieved ice from the freezer and made a pack for Cisco.

"Of course. Were you injured elsewhere?" As the cyborg handed Cisco the makeshift ice pack wrapped in a thin piece of cloth, Cisco smiled.

"No, Artemis, I'm fine. You don't need to mother-hen me," Cisco said, taking the ice and gingerly pressing it to his face. "Ouch. This is going to make sleeping annoying later."

"Cisco, you're back," Joe observed as he came in from the garden. Hallow followed him, looking a bit run down and paler than he had in the morning.

"Yeah- black eye and all," Cisco agreed.

"Did you not defend yourself?" Artemis asked, studying Cisco carefully. The cyborg was still learning about his human friends and there were times they were reminded that he didn't know them. He'd known different versions of them.

"Not much of a fighter," Cisco admitted.

"I could teach you," Joe offered.

"Indeed, Detective West is adept at boxing," Artemis informed Cisco. It pulled a smile from Joe, who shook his head. "I would also be willing to help you."

"You know how to fight?" Joe arched an eyebrow at the cyborg, a little surprised.

"In my endeavours to control and strengthen this body, I have studied a number of martial arts and their teachings," Artemis explained, turning to Cisco. Hallow frowned at the wording, but didn't say anything. "I would be more than happy to help you learn defensive moves and forms."

"I'm ready whenever you are," Cisco said, more than happy to take his mind off his family woes.

"Excellent, shall we retire to the basement? There is sparring space down there." Artemis started towards Harrison's room.

"How come I've never seen it?" Cisco called out, following the younger man.

"Does he always talk funny?" Hallow asked once the two younger men were gone.

"Yep," Joe smiled. "Artemis is a little weird. I think he sort of disconnected mentally from his body while he was undergoing whatever medical procedures were necessary to save his life. Makes him a bit strange at times, but he's completely dedicated to helping Harrison."

"I just never heard anybody talk about their body that way," Hallow observed. Instead of answering, Joe just shrugged.

"Come on. Let's get dinner made," Joe suggested, stepping into the kitchen and opening the fridge to see what was there.

"Right," Hallow agreed, stepping up to wait for Joe's decision. "Spaghetti would probably be easiest with this crowd," he suggested.

"I can do spaghetti," Joe agreed. Together, they started working on making a meal big enough for the entire group.

In the basement, Cisco watched Barry run on the treadmill that had been Harrison'd. He was annoyed to discover that Harrison's treadmill could actually withstand higher speeds, but Barry assured him it didn't matter. A few minutes of watching Barry made him feel better.

"Cisco," Artemis said, coming over. The cyborg was now dressed in sweatpants and a tee shirt. His feet were bare, and he looked completely relaxed and comfortable. "Are you going to come to the sparring room?"

"Yeah, right," Cisco agreed. He moved to follow the cyborg, feeling self-conscious when Barry and Caitlin followed them into the room a moment later. "What the hell kind of sparring room is this?" Cisco asked, looking around at the strange room. The walls were smooth and mirrored. The room must have stretched into an area not directly under the house, because the ceiling was tall.

"A sparring room," Artemis answered matter of factly. " Dad and I constructed it after we realized meta-humans existed and that we might need to help some train or learn to control powers," Artemis explained.

"And you want to practice martial arts in here?" Cisco arched an eyebrow.

"Actually, I felt it might be more to your benefit if we worked on harnessing your power for battle," Artemis countered. "It would also be an excellent idea to try triggering your suit and moving within it."

"You made Cisco a suit?" Barry asked, watching from the side of the room. At Artemis's nod, he grinned. "Cool. How does it work?"

"It is made of a light, yet dense polymer which will expand and stretch over whatever Cisco is wearing. It will adapt to form sensible protections based on the clothing you are wearing beneath it," Artemis began. "Of course, this does mean that the suit, while similar each time, will look different." As the cyborg spoke, Cisco triggered the suit, chuckling as the fabric expanded out from the watch and encased his body.

"That looks like the same kind of tech Eobard had for his ring, only your watch puts the suit on Cisco," Barry admired, watching Cisco move and look at his hands. A variation of the visors they had created to control his dreams clicked into place, covering his eyes and making it difficult to tell who was beneath the suit.

"There are sensors in the watch which will tell you when it is safe to trigger the suit. It will also project a dispersal signal, making it difficult for anyone to get a clear photograph or recording of your face," Artemis continued. He'd gone over the basics of care for the watch with Cisco the previous night. This was the first time the engineer had actually gotten up the courage to trigger the suit.

"If feels almost like leather," Barry observed, poking at Cisco's chest. "I like the colours."

"Thank you. I was uncertain of Cisco's colour preference but Dad felt that the yellow, black, and red would work well for him," Artemis said, actually sounding pleased.

"Looks good," Barry decided. Caitlin stepped forwards then, smoothing her hand over Cisco's new outfit.

"Just make sure you're careful," she whispered softly, locking her eyes with his. "I don't like having to put you boys back together afterwards."

"I will," Cisco agreed seriously. "I promise." He gave her a serious smile, and then stepped out onto the mats where Artemis was starting to stretch. "So, you're going to easy on me, right?"

"Only if you want me to," Artemis answered. With a grin, he launched himself at the now costumed Cisco, who yelped and ran in the opposite direction. It brought much needed laughter to Barry and Caitlin.

"Not ready!" Cisco squealed as he raced around the room. "What if I hurt you?"

"I am more resilient than most humans," Artemis answered slowing to a stop so Cisco could get ready. Seeing the cyborg stop, Cisco slowed and then halted.

"You so have to stop saying stuff like that," Cisco said with a shake of his head. "Can't you just think of yourself like a normal human being?"

"I am not a normal human being," Artemis pointed out. "However, I will endeavour to adapt my speech," he agreed. "Now, I would recommend you defend yourself." He paused a moment before launching himself at Cisco once more. This time, the engineer ran away but attempted to shoot vibrations at the cyborg. He missed. "Good! Focus and concentrate!" Artemis attacked again and the two began training in earnest.


	18. Chapter 18: Man Down

_**Hallo! My apologies for taking so long to start posting. I was sick and then things snowballed into end of school year and start of summer. My beta and I have been over this chapter several times so I hope it was worth the wait. I hope to try to post more soon. Thank you for hanging in there. As always, comments and reviews are welcomed and encouraged! -Troll**_

 **C** **hapter 18: Man Down**

The next morning, Joe awoke before Hallow. As he stretched, he watched the other man sleep. It seemed to Joe that Hallow might be fighting off some kind of illness. By the end of the previous day, his pseudo-partner had looked exhausted and pale. When Joe had commented on it, the other detective had simply stated that he needed to sleep. To Joe's amusement, Hallow was snoring loudly on his pad on the floor. Despite Joe's insistence that Hallow could join him in the bed, the silver-haired detective had opted for the floor. Smiling in amusement at the snores, Joe slipped from the bed and headed out to the kitchen.

"Morning Artemis," Joe greeted the cyborg. "Don't you ever sleep?"

"This body does not require the same amount of sleep as a normal human body. Nor does my computer program require being shut down. In a sense, no. I do not sleep," Artemis answered, facing the stove and away from the camera, as he steamed some vegetables. "I started the coffee."

"Thanks. I'd love to figure out how Lee takes his," Joe grumbled as he poured himself a cup.

"Detective Hallow prefers his coffee black, but adds a touch of milk due to indigestion caused by the acidity of the coffee," Artemis answered. Leaning against the counter next to the young man, Joe arched an eyebrow. "I am extremely observant," Artemis provided. Joe chuckled and moved to fix a cup for Hallow.

"How's Harrison this morning?" Joe finally asked, pausing to sip his coffee and studying Artemis carefully. He was learning to read the cyborg's expressions.

"There is a five percent increase in his muscle mass. The serum Chrissy developed from the Flash's blood is enhancing the effects of the myostatin blocker," Artemis replied. "However, Cisco has been unable to vibe any of Harrison's dreams or memories. Caitlin and I are both uncertain as to the cause of this loss of connection."

"So, we just keep trying?" Joe asked.

"Yes," Artemis answered. "Chrissy called to say she would be coming over in the afternoon. Perhaps she will be able to get through to Harrison." Finished cooking, Artemis fixed himself a plate and went and sat at the table. "Feel free to help yourself to breakfast." At that moment, Hallow came shuffling into the kitchen, rubbing at the back of his neck. "Ah, good morning Detective. Breakfast is made, and I believe Joe has poured you a cup of coffee already," Artemis greeted the man.

"You look like hell," Joe greeted Hallow. "You sure you're feeling alright, Lee?" He offered the other detective the cup of coffee he'd prepared.

"I'll be alright," Hallow answered, taking the cup and regarding it carefully. After a moment, he sipped at it and grinned. "Thanks." To his shock, Joe leaned in and gave him a peck on the lips.

"My man, looking all scruffy," Joe mused.

"Ew. I so did not need to see that," Cisco grumbled as he entered the kitchen. "Seriously, Artemis, you wore me out. How the hell are you up and chipper?"

"I am in better physical shape than you," Artemis answered, speaking slowly as he tried to make sure his word choice was more human.

Yes you certainly are," Caitlin agreed, followed in by Barry. The four had stayed up late while Artemis trained with Cisco on using his powers. Eventually, Barry had joined in and they had all been shocked to discover that even without the Chameleon suit, Artemis could hold his own against the two metas.

"I'm going to take my coffee out on the patio," Hallow decided.

"It's freezing out there," Joe complained. Instead of speaking, the other detective just shrugged so Joe followed him out into the brisk morning air. A light dusting of snow covered the ground and for a moment, the two men stood, studying the animal tracks in the white blanket.

"You okay?" Joe asked softly.

"Just feeling a bit like an outsider," Hallow admitted in a whisper. Both men seemed hesitant to break the peace of the morning. A dark barking shattered thd silence and the soothing mood.

"Damn dog," Joe complained, frowning as muffled shouts for the dog stop could be heard. Harrison's nearest neighbours were a fair distance away, but they could be very noisy.

"Are Cisco and Artemis a couple?" Hallow asked after a bit, the barking abaiting. Grunting, Joe tried not to spit out the coffee he'd just sipped. He fumbled for a moment before trying to speak.

"No. At least, I don't think so," Joe finally managed, glancing back in at the group of younger adults talking and eating breakfast. "Artemis was working with Cisco on his self-defense, remember?"

"Yeah, they just seem really close," Hallow observed.

"Well, I think Cisco has sort of taken it upon himself to be a big brother to Artemis. Poor kid is still learning how to behave around people. With Cisco's help, he's come pretty far though." Joe glanced at his partner as he spoke, wondering why Hallow looked like he had run a marathon rather than slept for eight hours.

"Then I would hate to think what he was like before Cisco started working with him," Hallow mused. "If it's okay with you, I thought I'd take the first shift with Harrison today."

"You don't have to sit with him," Joe assured the other man. Leaning against a railing, Hallow faced Joe.

"I want to do it," Hallow stated. "If we were really dating, I would do it. I'm not going to let Rathaway think I am a shitty boyfriend." The silver-haired detective seemed to blanch at the thought of someone thinking he was a less than optimal boyfriend.

"Fine, but eat some breakfast first. I'm going to call Iris and see how things are going at work for her," Joe agreed. Nodding, Hallow took a sip of his coffee before turning and heading inside. For a moment, Joe stood staring out at the backyard. Sighing, he rubbed at his face and headed into the house, shivering a little as the chill worked through his clothes.

"Hallow went to sit with Harrison," Barry informed Joe, pushing a plate of food across the table. "Sit down and eat."

"Thanks. Remind me I need to call Iris later," Joe informed his foster son. Barry nodded, making a mental note. "Did Lee take a plate with him?"

"Yes, I made sure that he did," Artemis answered. "He has been looking under the weather with an elevated heart rate and increased respirations."

"I think that translates to Artemis speak for, we should keep an eye on him," Caitlin mused, a sad smile painting her face.

"Indeed," Artemis agreed. "If you will excuse me, I am going to see if I can make any improvements upon the serum Dr. McGee developed." With a nod, the cyborg left.

"That guy has way too much energy," Cisco complained.

"He get's it from Harrison," Joe mused. "Remember, he was always ready for the next activity."

"I just figured that was because he was stuck in the chair," Cisco mumbled, barely conscious as he slurped at his coffee.

"Come on man, you gotta slurp?" Joe complained. It earned him an annoying smile from Cisco.

"I'm going to go get some more sleep," Barry grumbled. He'd already eaten his entire meal, making a conscious effort to do it slowly. Cisco had some meal bars stashed in the room the two were sharing. "You guys wore me out last night." Shaking his head at Cisco, the speedster stood and shuffled back to the room.

"I'm going to call Iris now, I think. Caitlin, can you help me figure out what we should let the newspaper publish?" Joe asked, looking to the doctor.

"Yep. Let me finish my tea and then I'll join you," Caitlin agreed.

"Thanks. I'll be in my room." Grabbing up a piece of toast and his coffee cup, Joe headed down the hall.

Several hours later, Joe decided to check in on his best friend and interim boyfriend. There was no response when he knocked on the door. Opening it, he peeked his head in, speaking as he did. "Hey, Lee. You trying to win a prize?" The other detective didn't respond, slumped over in his chair with one hand tucked into Harrison's. In the bed, the comatose man looked significantly better. Oddly enough he'd recovered some of his colour, and Joe could see the increase in muscle that Artemis had mentioned. "Lee?" Going to his partner, Joe shook the silver-haired detective's shoulder. Instead of waking up, Hallow slumped forwards and to the floor. "Caitlin! Artemis!" Joe bellowed, knowing that something had to be wrong. "Lee, wake up man." Pushing the chairs away, Joe tried to get to the slumped body.

"What happened?" Caitlin asked, rushing in with Artemis a step behind. In his pot in the window, Carlton shook and swayed.

"Carlton says that the detective seemed to grow weaker while he was visiting with Dad," Artemis translated. As the two doctors approached, Joe moved out of the way, stepping back and watching worriedly.

"Okay, he has a pulse, but it's weak," Caitlin said, kneeling next to the man. "Was he conscious when you found him?"

"No. It looked like he was asleep," Joe answered, eyes wide with worry.

"I will get an extra line hooked up to the oxygen," Artemis declared. Moving quickly, he gathered supplies and returned. "I have a non-rebreather," Artemis said, handing the mask to Caitlin.

"He's burning up," Caitlin said as she took the equipment and placed it on Hallow's face.

"He was running a low-grade fever early this morning," Artemis informed her. "Joe, does he have any medical history we need to know?" While he spoke, the cyborg helped Caitlin get their patient stretched out on the floor.

"No, not that I know of," Joe reported. "He was a Marine, so I would think he's pretty healthy."

"His colour is getting better," Caitlin reported, as she took a penlight to Hallow's eyes. "Pupils are perl," she continued. "The oxygen seems to be doing the trick."

"His temperature is still high. I would recommend we maintain the oxygen and try to bring the fever down," Artemis supplied.

"Agreed." Caitlin nodded and started cutting away the tee shirt Hallow was wearing.

"Whaah ya doina ma shirt," Hallow slurred, his blue eyes fluttering open. He feebly attempted to bat Caitlin's hands away.

"Lee, just let her work," Joe ordered. The other man didn't listen, still flailing at Caitlin.

"Joe, he's going to get himself hurt," Caitlin complained. Stepping up and around the two doctors, Joe squeezed between his partner and the bed, grabbing Hallow's hands.

"We should start an IV," Artemis suggested.

"Yer not stickin' a needle in me," Hallow bellowed, struggling to sit up and push the trio away. Instead, he ended up collapsing into Joe's arms. With some effort, the other detective lifted his partner. "Put me down, ya bully!"

"Shut up, Lee," Joe ordered. "Where do you two want him?"

"Everything we need is in here," Caitlin said. "Put him on the other side of the bed." Nodding, Joe grunted a little as he moved to deposit Hallow on the bed. Things went more smoothly when Artemis stepped up and took most of the weight.

"I'm not sleepin' with Hasson Wells!" Hallow complained.

"No, you're sharing a bed with Harrison Wells," Joe said, stressing the first name. He had ended up in the bed between the two sick men. "Now, shut up and hold still while Caitlin and Artemis take care of you."

Oddly enough, Hallow's blue eyes locked on Joe, and the silver-haired man fell silent. Since it seemed to work, Joe held the other man's gaze while Caitlin and Artemis got an IV started and secured. By the time the two were done, Hallow's colour was looking almost as good as Harrison's, and his breathing was strong and steady. Joe realized he was holding Hallow's hand the entire time and decided to continue holding it. "You're doing great, Lee," Joe muttered softly after about four minutes.

"Ha," Hallow replied. His eyes fluttered closed and then open again. "Sleepy."

"I know. Just stay awake a little longer," Joe requested.

"Detective Hallow, how long have you been feeling ill?" Artemis asked, documenting the symptoms he and Caitlin had observed.

"Started feelin' wiped last night," Hallow answered. "Thought I was jus' tired."

"No. I believe you have picked up a mild virus. The fluids and medicine I put in the IV should help you feel better," Artemis supplied.

"Ha, the only patient I know that you've worked on is in a coma," Hallow shot back.

"That was a low blow," Joe lectured. To his amusement, his partner actually looked apologetic.

"Sorry," Hallow mumbled. He rolled his eyes and then slowly closed them.

"Hey, no sleeping till the docs say it's okay," Joe commanded, shaking Hallow awake.

"Let him sleep," Caitlin said softly. "He's okay, Joe. The oxygen and fluids are helping. Feel his skin. His fever is already coming down." She touched the hot skin to demonstrate.

"What do you think happened?" Joe asked, watching Caitlin feel Hallow's temperature.

"He has a fever, Joe. It got too high so his body started to shut down. Let him sleep. Once that IV bag is empty, we'll move him back to your room and try to get him to drink his fluids," Caitlin decided.

"Yeah, okay," Joe agreed, feeling a flood of relief upon being assured his partner would be okay. With a sigh, he settled into the bed. At least he could watch over both Harrison and Hallow at the same time.

Hallow awoke around dinner time. Dr. McGee had arrived earlier and was sitting holding Harrison's hand. Joe was no longer seated in the bed, but next to Dr. McGee. The two were talking softly, sometimes speaking to Harrison. Seeing Hallow move, Joe stood and walked around to the other side.

"Hey sleeping beauty," Joe greeted his partner. "How you feeling?"

"Fine," Hallow answered, looking around. "Why am I in bed with Harrison Wells and who stuck a needle in me?" Artemis entered then. The IV had already finished, but Hallow could see the tell tale signs that it had been there.

"You became ill, so we needed to replenish your fluids and lower your core temperature," Artemis reported "If you are feeling better, I can help you back to your room."

"Thanks, but I think I'll do it myself," Hallow answered, giving Artemis an odd look. Rolling his eyes, Joe suppressed a smile as he stepped up. "I am fine, Joe," Hallow declared. As he stood, he wobbled and Joe caught him.

"Humour me," Joe ordered. "Besides, you aren't going to make me look like a bad boyfriend." A smirk tugged at Hallow's lips and he nodded his agreement.

Together the two men shuffled down the hallway. "So," Joe began, "I take it you're feeling better." Hallow grunted in reply and pushed open the door to their room. "Any dinner requests? Barry and I are cooking."

"Meat," Hallow grumbled. "And something sweet. I could really go for a cobbler of some sort." Joe escorted him to the bed, chuckling softly. "I'm on the floor," Hallow said, realizing they were headed to the bed.

"Lee, you just spent the day unconscious because you are sick. I'll take the floor," Joe lectured. As he pulled the bedsheets back, Hallow's eyes narrowed. "Don't even think about fighting me on this," Joe lectured.

"How's Dr. Wells doing?" Hallow asked, switching subjects to avoid the fight.

"His brain activity is really up," Joe answered. "Between the serum from Dr. McGee and that blocker Caitlin and Artemis developed, his body is improving. He did have another seizure, but hopefully it will be a quiet night," Joe reported. "And I probably just jinxed us." Nodding, Hallow stretched out on the bed. "Rest. I'll bring your food in a bit."

"Did you increase security on the house since I'm out of commission?" Hallow realized he was currently very little use to anyone.

"Yep. Don't worry. Just get better," Joe lectured. "The more you rest, the sooner you'll be back on your feet." Smiling, he patted Hallow on the arm and went to get started on dinner.

Dinner was silent, muted almost. Tina and Cisco had tried for hours to get through to Harrison, but to no avail. At nine, Tina headed home for the night. Exhausted from training together, Cisco and Barry headed to bed around the same time. By ten, Joe had settled down on the floor, Hallow already sleeping. Caitlin and Artemis turned in around the same time, leaving Carlton to watch over Harrison. It seemed like Joe hadn't jinxed them after all. Just before midnight however, the house erupted into total chaos.


	19. Chapter 19: Chaos Unleashed

_**I know this is a long time coming. I'm having some editing issues. Mainly, I'm short on time and long on story ideas. Thanks to everyone who has commented and kept me motivated. I'm trying to update a bunch of stories before going on vacation at the end of the week. Happy Tuesday! - Troll**_

 **Chapter 19: Chaos Unleashed**

Music blared through the house. Even in his barely conscious state, Joe recognized the opening bars of "Revolution" by the Beatles. On the bed, Hallow was sitting up, gun ready. As the blaring music transitioned into some other song, the two men exchanged looks. On the dresser, Joe's phone was carried to the side by the vibrations caused by an incoming call. Both men stood, Joe retrieving his gun. Hallow handed the phone to Joe, who glanced at the screen. Incoming call from Judy. She would have to wait.

Tense and with guns ready, the two men exited the room. Hallow did a quick check of the hallway before stepping out, Joe following. When Cisco poked his head out, Hallow motioned for the engineer to go back. Music continued to blare and Joe realized it was coming from Harrison's room. Carefully, he and Hallow worked their way down the hall. At Harrison's closed door, they paused.

Joe made sure he went in first, sweeping the room with his gaze and his gun. By the window, Carlton was settling back into the pot. Frowning, Joe made sure the plant was settled before he stepped in and headed for the closet. Following after Joe, Hallow headed to the bathroom. "Clear," Joe called out as he frowned at the empty closet. Tapping the wall, he pulled up the elevator log. Nobody had come or gone from the lab in over an hour.

"Clear," Hallow sang out. Sighing, Joe headed back into the bedroom to find Hallow kneeling on the floor by the computer. The music was still blaring, now blasting "Wake Up" by The Vamps. As Joe's brain processed the words, he approached his partner, both of them lowering their guns. "This looks like soil," Hallow said, glancing up at Joe. "Why would there be dirt on the floor and keyboard?"

"I don't know," Joe lied, his gaze flicking to Carlton. Had the plant turned on the music?

"Rage Against the Machine, Wake Up," Hallow was reading through the play list. "My Morning Jacket's Spring (Among the Living). Anthrax's Among the Living. What the hell kind of playlist is this?" Even as he asked the question, Hallow covered a finger with the bottom of his shirt and stopped the music. The silence felt painfully still after the pounding music.

Breaking the silence, Joe's phone rang once more. Fumbling in his pocket, he pulled it out. "Judy, again," Joe told his partner. He didn't know if Hallow remembered who Judy was, and at the moment, Joe didn't care. He answered the phone. "Judy," Joe began, but she cut him off.

"Harrison is awake!" Judy practically shouted. In the background, Joe could hear little Rupert screaming and crying.

"No he isn't," Joe countered, glancing at the still form in the bed.

"Yes, he is," Judy shot back.

"Judy, I am standing in his room, looking at him. He isn't awake!" Joe shook his head in frustration.

"The link reactivated! We can feel him again, Joe! We're coming over," she said, sounding harried and out of breath.

"No, Judy, it isn't safe. He's not awake," Joe continued, trying to get the woman to listen to him.

"Joe," Hallow said, his gaze locked on the bed.

"Hang on a second, Lee," Joe said, waving at his partner.

"Joe, he's moving his hand," Lee said, grabbing Joe's own hand and tugging on it hard.

"What?" It didn't process for Joe. Why would Harrison move his hand? As Hallow pulled him over to the bed, Joe let his gaze rest on Harrison's hand. The fingers were moving, slowly, but they were moving. "Harrison?" Joe looked around, uncertain what he should do; get Artemis and Caitlin or stay with his friend.

"I'll go get Dr. Wells and Dr. Snow," Hallow said, making the decision easy for Joe. While Joe watched Harrison's fingers slowly twitch and then curl, Hallow ran out the door.

"Harrison," Joe whispered, watching the man's face closely. "Harrison, can you hear me?" Eyelids fluttered open and blue eyes were briefly visible, before they closed. "Come on, Harrison. Open your eyes and keep them open," Joe ordered desperately. Once more the lids fluttered, but they didn't stay open. "Judy and Rupert are on their way over." There was another flash of blue before the eyes rolled back up into the head. "Come on Harrison," Joe begged. A grunt issued from the man in the bed and this time Harrison managed to open his eyes and keep them open. "Good, now can you look at me?" Harrison audibly took a breath and let it out in a sigh. As their eyes locked, a slow smile spread across the pale man's face. "Hey, Harrison. Good to see you awake," Joe greeted the now attentive eyes. "Just so you know, I'm going to kick your butt later for all those stunts you pulled as Chameleon." He gave his friend a stern look, which merely earned him another weak smile.

"Joe," Harrison managed to croak out. "What's a guy have to do to get some water around here?" He was barely managing a whisper. It didn't matter. It was music to Joe's ears.

"I'll get you something as soon as Caitlin or Artemis says it's alright," Joe assured him.

"Artemis," Harrison's eyes went wide. He looked like he was going to try to say more, but couldn't get the strength up to work his mouth. Whatever else he was going to say died in his throat.

"Yep. He's been by your side pretty much the entire time. Even when he himself was hurt," Joe informed him. He paused, waiting patiently for Harrison to work up the energy to keep talking.

"He's using," there was a long pause before Harrison managed to continue, "the body?" The sentence ended in a coughing fit, so Joe just nodded rather than try to talk over the coughs. "He's terrified of that body." The words were gasped out rapidly, as if Harrison was trying to blurt them all out before his own body gave out on him.

"Well, I guess you're worth facing the terror, because he's been using it pretty much all the time except when he has to sleep. Probably because it is the only way he could take care of you," Joe mused.

"So much like Tess," Harrison whispered. His blue gaze flitted around the room and landed back on Joe. "Joe, I'm so sorry," he began seriously, his voice growing stronger. "I didn't know you were alive." He paused for a long moment and Joe fought the urge to jump into the conversation. They'd been over this already, but it was possible that Harrison had memory loss. Joe just held his tongue. It was clear Harrison had more to say but was struggling to regain control of his voice. "When you were recovering," the scientist managed to clarify. He took a long gasping breath and continued, "I would have helped you, if I had." Joe's brow wrinkled in confusion. "When Hartley hurt you," Harrison added. Coughing some, he grabbed a fistfull of the bed sheets and pulled.

"What are you doing?" Joe was shocked to see the other man trying to get up.

"I want to sit up," Harrison answered, grunting some as he tried to lift himself. "How long have I been out?" He only managed to lift himself a few inches before dropping back down. His hands and arms were shaking.

"Nearly two months," Joe answered. "You were breathing on your own, but your brainwaves were practically non-existent." Stepping forwards, he gently helped Harrison sit up, propping pillows. Despite the improvement to Harrison's muscles, Joe was shocked at how light the other man was. The detective had helped the scientist before, but now the man felt fragile to Joe. It looked like the pillows were swallowing Harrison as the two men stared at each other. Joe suddenly didn't know what do. He wondered where everyone else was. Why hadn't they come running into the room? Perhaps Artemis was monitoring them via his computer sensors. Joe knew the cyborg was capable of doing it.

"Why aren't I in worse shape?" Harrison asked as he gazed at his torso. He was amazed to see that his upper body had retained most of the muscle tone and while he felt weak when he tried to move, it wasn't nearly as difficult as he had expected. Coordinating everything seemed to be the hardest part, hence the need for Joe's help. There was some pain in Harrison's chest where the bullet wounds were still healing, but from what he could tell, they had almost healed completely. Clearly the care they'd given his body while he was in the coma had been top notch.

"Artemis, Caitlin, and Dr. McGee have been working almost around the clock to restore your muscle mass and heal the wounds on your chest," Joe supplied. Hallow returned with a glass of water with a straw in it. He seemed uncertain when he entered the room, but he was shepherded in by Artemis, Cisco, Caitlin, and Barry. Putting the cup down on the desk, Hallow then left, leaving the group to catch up in private. Caitlin brought the cup to Joe, who helped Harrison take a few sips from the straw Hallow had thoughtfully included.

"Dr. Wells! You're awake!" Cisco cheered, darting forwards and hugging his boss. "We thought you were dead!"

"I'm not dead yet," Harrison managed to squeak out as he attempted to return Cisco's hug. Pulling away, Cisco gave the older man the stink eye.

"Did you just quote Monty Python?" Cisco demanded suspiciously.

"I feel happy," Harrison answered a sly grin tugging at his lips.

"You did it again!" Cisco accused, pointing a finger at his boss and looking over his shoulder at Caitlin and Barry. The two were standing back, happiness in their eyes, but worry also visible. How would Harrison react to them? "When did you wake up? How did you wake up? I mean, I've been trying so hard to get through to you."

"Tina managed to get through, though I understand it was about a day ago," Harrison answered, his gaze flitting to Carlton. Clearly, the plant had filled him in some before waking everyone up.

"Man, I tried and tried. How the hell did she get through to you?" Cisco demanded, shaking his head.

"When we were still working together Tina and I were in an accident in the lab. It linked our minds so that it was easier for her to get through," Harrison explained. The water had apparently helped him a little as he was speaking more easily, though there were still pauses randomly in his speech.

"Dr. McGee never told us that," Caitlin pointed out. "We knew about the accident but not that your minds had linked." She had came closer, studying him intently. She was happy to see him awake, but found herself wondering what their relationship would be like. Indirectly, she was responsible for his injuries. If she hadn't betrayed him and locked him up, he might have trusted her with his secret.

"She didn't know," Harrison admitted, blushing with embarrassment. "I don't think she ever realized the link was there. Apparently it was stronger on my end." He let out a little gasp of air as a twinge of pain ran up his side. Letting his eyes close, he tried to focus on the good things. He was alive and apparently so was everyone else it.

"Why didn't you ever tell her?" Cisco asked, happy for the distraction from how they were supposed to act around the man they had wrongfully imprisoned.

"Didn't know how," Harrison admitted with a shrug followed by a wince. Taking a few deep breaths, he tried moving his arms, experimenting to determine his limitations.

"How hard could that be?" Cisco asked.

"How would you tell a woman that you know she's on her period because you can feel her pain?" Another wince paused him and he let his arms drop before continuing, "Or that you can't stand to be around her when she's drooling over people at the beach because if gives you one hell of an erection?" Harrison paused to look around the room and wait for some of the discomfort sitting up was causing to pass. "How would you tell Caitlin that her cramps were so bad you nearly puked? Honestly, I had no clue how to broach the subject. You have no idea how happy I was that Tina never got pregnant," Harrison answered. The eyes of nearly everyone in the room went huge.

"I'm going to check your vitals, Dad," Artemis informed his father, moving to sit next to him on the bed. He didn't seemed bothered with the knowledge that Harrison had experienced so much of Dr. McGee's physical life.

"Dad?" Harrison repeated in surprise, his eyes widening and his voice cracking.

"Chrissy had suggested that it would be alright with you if I called you that," Artemis said, looking worried. "Is it acceptable?"

"It's great. Thank you, son," Harrison agreed. He seemed unbothered as Artemis started the now habitual task of taking his father's respirations, pulse, and blood pressure. "I never figured out how to tell Tina about our link, but something helped her figure it out." He shrugged, which caused a whimper to push past his lips. His body wasn't used to him moving it. "I'm just happy she managed to get through to me," Harrison sighed. He closed his eyes while Artemis worked, letting his tired body relax into the pillows Joe had placed.

"Heart rate is elevated," Artemis reported softly.

"Bit of excitement," Harrison murmured. He opened his eyes and gazed around the room. "Wasn't there somebody else here?"

"Detective Hallow is staying with us in case Hartley attacks once more," Artemis answered. "At the moment, Hartley has gained access to the cameras in the common areas so Detective Hallow is posing as Joe's boyfriend," the cyborg continued. "I fear the elevated heart rate may be due to prolonged use of the serum Chrissy developed from the Flash's blood."

"How fast is it?" Caitlin asked, pushing past her worry about the relationship that she may have lost. "It was fine last night."

"Currently it is at 100 beats per minute. I believe it is possible that we are seeing side-effects," Artemis mused.

"What exactly have you been using?" Harrison asked, moving his arms and marveling at the fact that there was no tightness and little weakness. "I feel like I'm just getting over the flu."

"A combination of a myostatin blocker and a serum derived from the blood of the Flash," Artemis explained.

"It looks like the Flash serum is causing the myostatin blocker to work at a faster rate so your muscles are rebuilding quickly. I hadn't expected it to work this well," Caitlin marveled, her hands exploring his torso without thinking. "Artemis, I'm thinking we should wean him off the Flash serum. If we stop him cold turkey it might have adverse effects."

"He is sitting right here and agrees with you," Harrison said. His gaze locked with Caitlin and there was a silence as the two stared into each other's eyes. To Caitlin's annoyance, she couldn't read his look. She didn't know him well enough to have any clue what he was thinking. How had she let him get so far away from her? All she could see was that he looked exhausted.

"Sorry, Dr. Wells," Caitlin said softly. Her gaze dropped to her lap and then back up to his. Sensing that the two needed to talk without an audience, Joe started herding people out.

"Come on Cisco, Barry, Artemis, you guys can help me figure out where to put Judy and Rupert when they arrive," Joe said.

"Joe," Harrison said. His voice was gaining strength. The group turned back. "Put them in here. The pack and play is in the closet and there's plenty of room to set it up."

"I will take care of that while you and Caitlin talk," Artemis informed him. "I would recommend the rest of you return to bed. We can continue our conversations with Dad in the morning."

"Yeah. Right," Barry agreed, hesitant to leave without speaking. Sensing the tension, Harrison shifted and tried to bring himself into a more upright position.

"Look, I'm not angry at you, any of you," Harrison began, addressing them. "If anything, you all should be angry with me." There were awkward looks passed around the room. They all felt guilty and responsible for Harrison's actions. "I was the one who chose not to talk to you all. I decided not to let you into my world. Nobody made those choices but me."

"We gave you a reason not to trust us," Cisco piped up. "You can't just layer all the blame on yourself."

"Why not?" Harrison arched an eyebrow at him.

"Because we're a team," Barry explained. "And I was the one who wouldn't listen. I was the one who decided that you were just like Thawne. Hell, I decided that you were Thawne because you kept one secret from us."

"A secret I asked you to keep," Joe added. "We're all of us responsible for this mess. Right now, this team is a living example of the problems crappy communication can cause."

"Fine," Harrison caved, too exhausted to fight. "We're all responsible, but we can't just go back. Even if we all agree we screwed up, we can't undo the past." Barry started to open his mouth but Harrison shot him a look. "No time traveling," he said sternly. "Look, I can't guarantee that we will ever have that same friendship back." Several sets of shoulders slumped and they all stared at the floor. "However, it might be possible for us to build new friendships."

"Damn, that's some serious after school special crap," Cisco muttered.

"Indeed," Harrison agreed, a sad smile painting his face. "Now, go get some rest. I will see you all in the morning."

"Right. Good night, Dr. Wells. It's great to see you awake," Cisco said. He wanted to go hug the man again, but opted against it.

"Good night," Caitlin agreed.

"Night," Barry added. Together the trio turned and left. Joe stayed a moment longer, studying his friend, who looked tired and emotionally worn. Even with all the magic potions Caitlin and Artemis had given him, Harrison still had some healing to do.

"I'm glad you're alive," Joe said. They both nodded, and Joe slipped from the room.

Judy was coming down the hallway with Rupert in her arms. "Joe!" The woman hugged him tightly. "He's so exhausted just from being up for this little bit," she informed him softly. While Joe didn't completely understand how the link between Harrison, Rupert, and Judy worked, he did know that the woman could sometimes sense things about Harrison courtesy of Rupert.

"Yeah," Joe agreed. "He and Artemis decided that you two would stay in with Harrison. Are you okay sharing a bed with him?"

"We've slept together before," Judy replied with a grin and a wink. "I ended up with the best gift ever from our one night."

"Yeah? How's little Rupert doing?" Joe asked, smiling at the baby, who was regarding him with large blue eyes. Like his father, Rupert had bright blue eyes, dark hair, but with a tinge of red, and a mischievous sparkle to his eyes at the time. Like his mother, he had cocoa coloured skin, curly hair, dimpled cheeks, and little points on his ears. To Joe, he was the most beautiful child in the world, aside from Iris of course.

"Better now that Harrison is awake," Judy said with a smile. "I'm going to go get us settled into the room. See you in the morning."

"Yeah. Night." Joe watched her carry the baby into Harrison's room, Rupert's laughter floating out a moment later. "Remind him what he has to live for," Joe muttered softly. With a sigh, he continued to the room he was sharing with Hallow.

The former Marine was seated on the floor, his back against the wall, and his eyes closed. "How'd it go?" Hallow asked, not opening his eyes.

"They're trying to get his medications right," Joe answered. "Seems like he's doing pretty good though."

"Then why the tension?" Hallow asked. His eyes opened and Joe was struck with how different Hallow's blues were from Harrison's. There was more gray to Hallow's eyes and they seemed older in a way. It was almost like his eyes had seen more than Harrison's and been hurt more. Joe wasn't certain how that was possible. The scientist had lost a wife, two children, and his timeline.

"There was some tension in the group before Harrison got hurt," Joe admitted. "Secrets being kept, stuff like that." He shrugged and went to sit down next to Hallow.

"Secrets about meta-humans?" Hallow was watching Joe closely.

"Doesn't matter much now," Joe answered. "It's all out there so we just have to deal with it and move on with our lives." There was silence for a long moment.

"Joe, I'm trusting you to have my back. I hope you know that you can do the same," said Hallow, breaking the quiet of the room. "Sleep well." Patting Joe on the leg, Hallow stood and went to the bed. "Join me if you want." Without looking back, he climbed into the bed and turned off the table lamp.

For a few minutes, Joe sat in the darkness, contemplating everything that had happened. He didn't know Lee very well, but he trusted the man. With everything so tense with Harrison and the rest of the group, Joe wondered if he'd ever be able to relax again. Even as he thought it, he realized that he was relaxed. Here, in this room, he was comfortable with Lee Hallow. Sighing and smiling to himself, Joe stood and made his way to the bed. When he slipped in next to the silver-haired man, Hallow didn't say anything. There was no snuggling. The bed was big enough to accommodate both men with room in between them. Together, they drifted off to sleep.


	20. Chapter 20: Morning

_**My apologies for the slow updates. I've been dealing with depression, anxiety, work stress, and life in general. All mistakes are my own. My vampiric zombie Beta basically gives me somebody to bounce ideas off of, no editing. Please forgive any mutilation of the English language. Also, while I had finished this story when I started posting so long ago, I'm on like my fourth or fifth version with edits. I'm doing my best. Thanks - Troll**_

 **Chapter 20: Morning**

Lee woke early in the morning. He was not at all surprised to find that he had an arm tossed over a sleeping Joe West. Quietly, he slipped from the bed and padded out of the room. It felt like the night had been a dream. Had Harrison Wells really woken up from his coma? Laughter floated to his ears as Lee walked down the hall. Pausing at the door, he listened before knocking. "Enter!" A voice sang out so Lee opened the door, moving quickly inside.

"Detective Hallow," Artemis greeted him. The young doctor was seated on the floor, his legs spread so that each foot touched one of Harrison's feet. Seated opposite his son, Harrison had his back against the side of the bed and was holding onto an infant Lee recognized as Rupert. Man and child both looked shaky, but Artemis was clearly watching them closely. "Welcome. Dad, this is Joe's boyfriend Detective Lee Hallow."

"Ah, Detective Hallow. Nice to meet you," Harrison nodded his greeting, his hands full of giggling infant. "This is my son, Rupert. Little monster has grown a great deal since I last saw him." In his hands, Rupert turned to look at Hallow, who laughed.

"I see the family resemblance," Lee admitted. "You all have the same eyes."

"It was a special," Harrison cracked. "Buy two pairs get one pair free."

"Looks like it was a hell of a deal," Lee chuckled. He was surprised to see Artemis getting to his feet.

"Detective, would you be so kind as to stay with Dad while I go prepare the morning meal?" Artemis asked, glancing once at his father before focusing his attention on the detective.

"Why don't I make breakfast," Lee suggested. He wasn't certain how he felt about watching over the senior Dr. Wells.

"I don't need a babysitter," Harrison interjected. There was a pause as he wobbled some, still weak from the extended inactivity. "But, I would like to speak with you privately, Detective." It seemed to Lee that the elder Wells might have just been trying to save face. Still, he could sit and talk with the man, make sure nothing happened.

"Lee," he said, watching Artemis leave the room. Sighing, Lee went and took Artemis's place. To his surprise, Rupert started taking hesitant steps towards him, little hands out. Even more shocking was when his shirt seemed to pull away from his body and towards the little hands.

"Rupert, that's cheating!" Harrison protested with a laugh. Lee just stared at the little boy. Giggling, the child made it to Lee and turned to face his father. A wide smile on his face, the boy bounced a little, and the necklace around Harrison's neck started to float up and into the air. "Okay, now you're just showing off," Harrison chuckled. Blinking in shock, Lee watched the child toddle back to the scientist.

"He's a meta?" Lee asked once the little boy was once more in the arms of his father.

"Is that a problem?" Harrison asked. He studied the silver-haired man opposite from him. "We figured it wouldn't bother you since you're a meta as well." Lee froze, his gaze locked on the man across from him. There was a long drawn out silence which the child broke with a giggle as he levitated a stuffed frog over from the bed. Catching it, Harrison grinned at the boy and made the toy dance.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Lee began, but Harrison just laughed. "I'm not a meta," Lee tried again.

"Right. Sure. I won't tell anyone. However, I did want to thank you for helping me heal. I understand the exertion made you sick," Harrison continued, playing with the stuffed toy. His attention was focused on the child, which was oddly comforting to Lee. "I wanted to make sure you knew how much it meant to me." He looked up at the other man. "I think I was having problems finding my way home until you started using your power on me. Without your help, I might not have made it back to this little monster, or his older brother."

Lee remained silent, uncertain how to respond. He watched as Harrison continued to play with his son, Rupert giggling at the way the stuffed animal was moving around and dancing. Neither seemed concerned with Lee and whatever powers he might or might not have. Finally, the detective made a decision, "You won't tell anyone else?"

"Why would I?" Harrison shrugged, his eyes never straying from the child. "I will admit that I'm a little surprised you would be willing to help me, since it was my accelerator which ruined your life." Glancing over, the scientist smiled at the look Lee was giving him. It was one of uncertainty and disbelief. "I'm sorry about your partner. I hadn't realized the effects of the accelerator had reached your area."

"I was here," Lee finally blurted. Dr. Wells lifted his gaze to the detective, clearly waiting for more. "My daughter was obsessed with seeing your accelerator turn on and convinced me to come along with her. We had started heading home early because of the storm when a semi jack-knifed on the slick road. When your accelerator exploded, I was in the ER holding a bloody bandage to her neck and praying that she would survive. The energy wave or whatever hit, and they lost power. Everything descended into chaos and she died in my arms. Bled out." He raced through the story, as if afraid he'd feel the pain again.

"Then your daughter would have been Dr. Katherine Hallow," Harrison said seriously. "I'm very sorry for your loss. From what I read about her, I gather that she was an extremely gifted doctor."

"How do you know her name?" Lee couldn't keep the surprise from his face.

"I know the names of all of my victims," Harrison answered. There was a haze of pain in his blue eyes and Lee wondered if it was physical or emotional. "I know I can't bring back all those who died that night, but it has always been my intention to do what I can to ease the pain of those they left behind." The room feel silent, and Lee watched as Harrison kissed Rupert on the forehead. The scientist made a face and sniffed. "Damn, he needs a diaper change." Looking around, Harrison tried to figure out where the diaper bag had gotten to and tried to determine if he was physically up to the challenge of changing the ten month old's diaper.

"I'll do it," Lee said softly, getting to his feet and moving to take the little boy. Hesitantly, Harrison relinquished the child to the detective and watched as Lee went to the bed and stretched the baby out. "It's been a long time since I've changed a diaper," he mused as he got everything out. "Never changed a little boy's diaper."

"Careful, he's armed and his aim is deadly accurate," Harrison informed the detective. Glancing at him, Lee watched as the other man struggled to shift himself around.

"I'll keep that in mind." Lee managed a weak smile as he let his mind wander while he set about getting the diaper changed. At least it was only urine and not the more solid waste children could produce. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about a charity that was started in Katie's name at the hospital where she worked, would you?" He'd always wondered where the money had come from but nobody at the hospital would admit to getting everything set up. Yes, people had donated to the cause, but no one seemed to know who was responsible for the bulk of the money."

"Anonymous donors generally like to stay anonymous," Harrison answered. He had moved his legs and was trying to pull himself back into the bed. Even with the greater muscle mass the treatments had granted him, Harrison was still struggling with simple tasks. He was relearning how to use his body for the second time in as many years.

"You keep my secret and I'll keep yours," Lee suggested. Grunting for an answer, Harrison slowly collapsed down to the floor. After a moment he started to try again.

"Dr. Wells, Artemis said you were up," Caitlin began, entering the room. She paused a few steps in, watching her boss struggle with getting back into the bed. "Let me help you," she said, rushing to his side.

"I want to do it myself," Harrison practically shouted at her. Pulling back from him, Caitlin blinked, and held back her own retort. "I'm sorry," Harrison said after a moment with a sigh. "This is frustrating. Please, let me try to do this on my own."

"Okay," Caitlin agreed, stepping back. "But I'm not going to let you hurt yourself." She and Lee both watched as the man struggled once more. As Harrison tried to lift himself, Barry, Cisco, Joe, and finally Artemis arrived in the room. They were all silent as they watched, Artemis going to his father's side when the older man collapsed to the floor once more.

"I'll help," Artemis said softly. Nodding his thanks, Harrison started trying again, this time with his son taking some of the weight so that the paraplegic man succeeded in getting back into the bed. "We should discuss Detective Hallow's plan to use you as bait," Artemis began while Harrison shifted and re-positioned his legs.

"Yeah," Hallow looked up nervously as he finished snapping the legs of the sleeper back on Rupert and lifted the boy into his arms.

"Don't worry," Harrison said with a tired look. "I have no problem playing live bait. No need for Scooby Snacks. I just wish there was some way to protect my friends and family. I don't want anyone else in danger because of me."

"Noble wishes," Lee said. "But unfortunately, I think your friends and family are targets just because they are your friends and family. At least here they have myself and Detective West to watch over them."

"Thank you for watching over them," Harrison agreed. "Now that I am conscious, Artemis has suggested we get a bit more active with your investigation."

"Dr. Wells, you need some time to rebuild your muscles, let your body recover," Caitlin pointed out. "You can't just call a press conference today and expect Hartley to attack and the Flash to catch him." Worry laced her words and pulled the colour from her face, making it paler.

"Not what I was thinking, Dr. Snow," Harrison replied.

"Hang on," Joe said, jumping in with a frown. "Harrison, Caitlin. Caitlin, Harrison. Now, do I need to do introductions all around? You know I will." He gave them all stern looks. Lee remained silent, but his eyes clouded with confusion.

"Thank you, Joe," Harrison said with a nod and an odd little smile. "Caitlin, what Artemis and I discussed was going over the list of Hartley's thefts. While we try to figure out what Hartley is up to, I will be recovering."

"We wanted to discuss the possibility of having Mrs. Click come in for Dad's physical therapy or Dad going to the centre," Artemis piped up.

"Unfortunately, I think we should limit the number of guests you have. The fewer people seen with you, the fewer targets Mr. Rathaway will have. I understand that you need physical therapy, but somebody here will just have to help you with it," Lee informed them. "I would also suggest that we keep as many of you here as possible. Otherwise we'll need to call in officers to shadow all of you. I already had to put men on Dr. McGee and Dr. Carvers."

"Oh, no," Harrison groaned. "Chrissy is never going to let me hear the end of it!" Despite his apparent displeasure, a smile played near his lips.

"Harrison, Lee is right. The best way to protect everyone is to limit contact with either you or the outside world," Joe pointed out.

"I can help with the physical therapy," Cisco offered. He shot Hallow a look before returning his gaze to Harrison and continuing. "I remember when you were first hurt."

"You were extremely helpful while I was learning to adapt," Harrison agreed.

"I am certain I can be of assistance as well," Artemis added.

"I don't know much about it, but tell me what to do and I'll do it," Barry declared.

"I've been there, so I can help," Joe reminded them. His own spinal injury wasn't that long ago. "If it hadn't been for you, I'd be stuck in a bed." He shot a rather significant look at the others.

"Sounds like we have the physical therapy covered," Caitlin decided. "I'll start working with you today. Artemis can work with you in the afternoon."

"I have to get to work," Barry declared.

"Mr. Allen, your friend just woke up from a coma. Why don't you take a week off to spend some time with him," Hallow suggested. "I know we'll all probably go stir crazy, but it really will be easier to protect everyone if we're all under one roof."

"Uhm," Barry looked to Joe, who nodded his head once. "Okay, but I need to pick up some more stuff from home. I mean, if we're going to extend out stays and limit time out of the house."

"Me to," Caitlin piped up. While she wanted to be there to help Harrison with his therapy, she needed to get anything necessary for an extended stay. The older scientist didn't seem upset either way.

"I'll take you," Joe offered.

"Cisco and I will began Dad's physical therapy," Artemis declared. Decision made, the group parted.


End file.
